


Game of Survival

by VampyKitten



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, FemNaru - Freeform, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-04-03 16:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14000418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampyKitten/pseuds/VampyKitten
Summary: Her world drowned in blood and death. Long-dead Uchiha, a crazed madman, and a psuedo-goddess from another world were more than she could handle. The sacrifice of a demon gave her another chance. Not one to waste time, Namikaze Takara goes back to change it all.





	1. Prologue: Brisé

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Namikaze Takara has always done the impossible. What's stopping her from doing it again?

**砂時計**

_Brisé: A classical ballet term meaning “broken” or “breaking.”  A brisé is when a dancer takes off from one or two feet, jumps and beat their legs and ends on one or two feet._

**砂時計**

The world ended in a single moment.

Blood - rich, iron-filled, life-giving blood - coated the earth, the seas ran red and chaos reigned. Agony and heartbreak were the most reliable companions, every new missive listing the dead a stab to an already dead heart.

But still, Uzumaki Takara persisted. Death had snatched many precious people from her hands, but she refused to let someone tarnish their name, their life, their _sacrifice_. When Hyuga Neji perished, he did so that she and Hinata might live on. When Yamanaka Inoichi and Nara Shikaku sacrificed their lives to draw the wrath of the Jubi, they did so that the allied forces may still have a chance. Still more met the cold clutches of Death far before their time.

Inuzuka Kiba. Kato Shizune. Hyuga Hinata. Aburame Shino. Haruno Sakura. Thousands more she did not know, and yet mourned all the same.

And then there was Sasuke.

Beautiful, haunted, determined Sasuke. From the day Takara met him, she knew their connection was far beyond any she'd ever known before, and perhaps even after.

_Strangers. Rivals. Comrades. Friends. Lovers._

The two could never really keep from returning to each other. Despite the many times Sasuke ran and sought and hunted power, Takara was there, calm words and soothing touches ready to bring him back home.

Home became an transient thought, an idea rather than a place. It was, first and foremost, the people Takara cared for most deeply. She fought for their life, their love, for the fact that they placed their trust in her.

A terrible idea really, with her half-formed battle strategies and insane combat techniques that only worked because it was _her_. Though one could suppose it was her tendency for perseverance in the fact of insurmountable odds that gave them some form of hope to fight for.

But her home and her people was what she fought for, and slowly but surely she convinced Sasuke of the same. There were times when she almost faltered, almost didn't believe in herself and the ability to redeem the man she had come to love more than her own life. But the “Takara effect” prevailed, and one day she showed up at the gates of the army’s current settlement, stubborn Uchiha in tow.

They'd had two blissful days of ignorance, of blind hope that reunited, they finally stood a chance against the terror that was Uchiha Obito. That was before he resurrected the founding Uchiha of Konoha, the very man Obito had masqueraded as for many years.

Uchiha Madara.

For all the strife that his clan had caused her, Takara would never regret loving Uchiha Sasuke. He was fire and smoke and destruction, a bright flare of righteous anger and fierce protection that he tried to hide behind a mask of calm indifference. But Takara could read him, understand the messages between his words and within his actions.

_I love you. I'm sorry. Forgive me._

Despite the loss of their third compatriot, Sasuke and Takara pressed on. Sakura’s sacrifice would not, would never be, in vain. It seemed, too, like things could be made well. The battle was progressing, making slow progress across the sweeping lands of the elemental countries. The first four Hokage, brought back by a piece of Orochimaru released from Anko’s curse seal, assisted in the battle, turning the tide in the shinobi forces’ favor. Yet, their victory was not for long.

With Madara re-animated, they had to renew their fight that much more. Shinobi already on the brink of death, pushed to the limit by fighting and running and surviving, began to fall in droves. Takara could no longer handle reading the fatality records. Still, she fought for her country, for the people who put their hope in her, for the future they could still have.

At least, she did, until Uchiha Sasuke died in front of her.

Takara supposed she should be distraught, the hole in her chest that had been growing steadily now a gaping wound with his death. But she could not bring herself to feel more than a muted despair. It took a lot to break an Uzumaki spirit, but the death of someone whose life had been so entwined with hers was too much.

Takara fought and raged and wanted - more than anything - to bring this murderous, death-filled atrocity to an end. But it was all too easy for Otsutsuki Kaguya to revive, to take control of a world bathed in blood and misery.

It had, after all, been her intention since before the beginning of time. Infinite Tsukiyomi is something that takes preparation, to say the least.

As the light faded away, Uzumaki Takara slipped into her mental plane, intent on spending the last of her time with the only being who had always known her. The weary form the of Kyuubi no Kitsune lay curled in the corner, a long chain attached to the cage bars which formerly held him. The two had grown closer over the years, the demon begrudgingly admitting she was the closest thing he'd ever had to a companion, maybe even a friend. Takara herself began trusting the centuries old soul, but by bit allowing him more freedom. She modified the seal a bit so he was still contained, but had more space to maneuver. Instead of a huge cage with the seal on the doors, he wore a collar inscribed with the sealing array.  
  
With a heavy sigh, Takara moved to undo the collar holding Kurama.  
  
**Kit, what're you doing?**  
  
_Releasing you. I no longer have any wish to stay in this world, and if I'm going to die, you should be free. In these past years, you have become an older brother that I never had, Kurama-niisan. Thank you for that, and I want you to be happy if I'm going to be happy…_  
  
**No, Takara, I have enough strength to complete one final jutsu. It is a jutsu only known to the king of demons. It requires a great price, for it sends people back in time…**  
  
_That’s not possible._

**That’s what people said about most of the things you’ve done in your life. Plus, we’re trapped in the Infinite Tsukiyomi created by my somewhat-mother from another dimension. I don’t think you’re in the position to say what’s impossible at this moment.**

Takara snorted. That was true. If anyone had told her that the world’s downfall would be an alien from another planet, she would’ve laughed in their face.

_Then why haven’t you used this before now?_

**That price I mentioned? It requires life force and huge amount of chakra. I may have the power to turn back time, but in doing so, I must exchange my life. Not exactly something I wanted to do unless it was a dire situation.**

That admission stilled her. She couldn't stand the thought of last companion dying. She’d already lost enough, seen enough death and heartbreak for multiple lifetimes. Though, it was unlikely she'd last much longer past that, as Kaguya’s plans of taking back chakra weren't made with the survival of the human race in mind.

 _So...you’ll die from it? I thought it was impossible for you to die._  
  
**In a sense, no. you will be going back to before I died so I will still be alive. You must merely use a jutsu to transfer my memories.**  
  
Kurama’s claw extended towards her, one of the tips resting on the center of her forehead. Hand signs and theory flashing through her thoughts at blinding speed. He then stooped to Takara’s level, crimson eyes peering into her own as he began to speak again.  
  
**I am going to send you to a different time stream. One where you should not exist, but by me activating this jutsu, you will. In this dimension, the Yondaime has a son named Naruto whom he seals me into when I attacked Konoha. I will send you back to be born a few years early, making you his older sister. I am not entirely sure how that will change things, but hopefully it will give you a push in the right direction. The only reason you were forced to be the jinchuriki so young in this timeline is because Obito stole me from your mother. Had he not interfered, she would likely have remained the jinchuriki until close to her death as Mito did.**  
  
_How am I supposed to get to you then?_  
  
**That, unfortunately, I will not be able to assist you with. I may be the king of demons, but I cannot see the timelines and possibilities as the Fates can. All I can do is equip you with future memories so that you can change things on your own.**  
  
_I see. But, you cannot just create a human being, after all you’re not the Kami. I have to have an 'empty', so to speak, body to inhabit. Am I going to have to force another soul out, essentially killing it?_

Something in her didn’t agree with the thought of killing an untainted young soul.

 **No, no, no, you will do no such thing Takara. In the timeline I will be sending you to, your parents' first child, you, was a miscarriage. I will be putting you in the place of that lost child, therefore not killing anyone in the process.**  
  
_That I can do._  
  
**Since you do not have any other objections, I will begin the process of drawing out the seal for this jutsu.**  
  
Kurama morphed into his human form, a young adult male who had bright orange-red hair, not unlike hers, and red, slitted eyes. He raked a claw across his forearm, blood pooling on the surface. A brush appeared in his hand and he began writing an extremely complex sealing array.

Takara was quite interested to see how this jutsu was formed. The power to command time was thought to be a myth, a domain reserved for the gods. True, only the king of demons could use it and it would cost him his life, but the opportunity was there. Then there was the fact that it seemed to be fuinjutsu-based. That had become her specialty later in life. Uzumaki sealing prowess was well known in earlier times, and it was for that power that their homeland had been massacred. What knowledge Takara did learn came from Jiraiya during their world travelling, as well as anything she could find that her parents had left behind. Of course, once one understood the basis for fuinjutsu, all they really needed was creativity and somewhere safe to practice in case the seals detonated. Takara spent most of her free time after Pein’s invasion of Konoha refining those skills, enough to start applying fuinjutsu in battle. Because most didn’t know how to counter a seal master’s fighting style, it did give her an upper hand. Unfortunately, that was not enough, because everything had gone to hell in a handbasket.

After about an hour (although it could’ve been more, time isn’t very reliable in one’s mindscape) of drawing the array, Kurama stood, allowing his natural healing to seal up the wound on his arm.

**We’re all set kit.**

His eyes held a mix of melancholy and hope. There was no doubt that their relationship would never be the same. Many years of sharing a mindspace and working together tended to create quite the strong partnership.

_I will make things better, I swear it to you. The world will not end in flames and blood this time._

Takara reached forward to pull him into a hug. Kurama had never really been the hugging type, and he stiffened as she drew him in, but that wasn’t about to stop her. He stepped back, and began forming a few hand signs. After the last was completed, wisps of light began to escape from his forehead, coalescing into a beaming orb full of multiple colors.

**These are my memories. I am giving them to you so that they can be transferred to my alternate self. By binding them to your soul, they will remain with you, though they are not yours. I would not necessarily suggest looking at them, because they are very potent and potentially dangerous. But if you keep them contained in this shell, the transfer will not harm you.**

Takara took the orb into her hands, staring at it for a moment. The colors were mesmerizing, and if she looked close enough, blurry images started to peek through. Heeding Kurama’s instructions, she cleared her head and placed the orb next to her chest. Slowly, it began to sink into Takara’s skin, leaving a warm buzz in its wake.

**That is all I can do to prepare you. I will share one last thought, however. Be careful not to change too many things, as you never know what will create ripples and change the course of time forever.**

_I’ll be careful. I have accepted the fact that I will not be able to save everyone, but I will do what I can to keep the future from its current darkness._

A rumble and a crash sounded around them.

**You must hurry kit, Kaguya has begun the process of draining us! If she takes to much, I will not be able to complete this!**

Kurama forced her into the middle of the sealing array. His hands flew into a blur as he begun the jutsu. Hundreds of hand signs were formed with the perfection only a demon could deliver. A large spike of chakra, nearly everything Kurama had, was pushed into the jutsu. It spiraled out through the marks, twisting and curling and consuming. The light started at a dim glow, near blinding by the time the array was fully activated.  
  
A flash enveloped her, accompanied by a loud crash. Takara shut her eyes, arms flying in front of her face to protect it.

* * *

Kurama had been writhing, trying desperately to be free of the seal. His pathetic jailer was in the midst of bearing a spawn, which should have afforded him a bigger chance of escape. At least, if it wasn't for that idiotic lover of hers. Seventeen years old and already so devoted to another. It was pathetic, really. The fact that they were having a child together was both his salvation and the bane of his existence at the same time. While it gave him the chance to try and escape, it also meant that his insufferable jailer was overwhelmed with that disgusting emotion _love_. He'd be glad when he was free of it.

The Uzumaki woman shuddered and cried out in pain, which Kurama decided he quite liked. It was what she deserved after all, for keeping him locked in here like this. Finally, the miniscule human was born, and Kurama’s senses picked up something - peculiar. He reached for what little he could sense of the world outside his cage. Sure enough, the small one had a barely perceptible feel of demon chakra entwined with hers. Then there was the extremely concentrated - albeit small - shard of despair and hopelessness ensconced in this human child. It wasn't even a minute old, how could it have obtained such negative emotion. Had he actually been able to influence the fetus as it developed?

**_Interesting. The seal should have kept me from reaching the child at all. So where did my essence and this negative energy come from…_ **

Kurama did not like mysteries. He resolved himself to watch the disgusting thing as it grew, and if it was truly affected by him, perhaps he could leverage his way out of the seal…

A large, predatory grin spread across his face.

* * *

Uchiha Madara scowled as he listened to the report from Zetsu. It seemed that the Namikaze child had been born without issue, and while he had expected it, there was always a chance for something to go wrong. He did not have all of the pieces in place to tear the bijuu from it's host yet, so he could only bide his time until the jinchuriki procreated again. He turned to his shadowy companion.

“Zetsu, I am not ready yet, but in several years I will need Uzumaki Kushina to undergo another pregnancy. Can you assure me that will happen?”

A dark smile crossed the form’s face.

“Of course, _Madara-sama_.”

Somehow Madara did not believe that Zetsu fully respected him, but as long as the beast remained loyal, he could overlook slight insubordination.

“Very well. Savor your time, Uzumaki Kushina. You will not have long…”

* * *

Takara was stunned and confused for a moment, before she began to realize that something was different. When she opened her eyes again, Takara was looking straight into the face of one Namikaze Minato.

"She looks like your clone Kushina…What are we going to name her?" Minato asked. A weak voice replied from the bed,  
  
"I always...did like...Takara…Minato…"  
  
"Takara Namikaze, welcome to the world…"

**砂時計**


	2. Adagio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Takara plots, schemes, and really hates being a child.

**砂時計**

_Adagio: Refers to slow movement, typically performed with the greatest amount of grace and fluidity than other movements of dance._

**砂時計**

As much as she’d like to say differently, there was not much that Takara could do at the beginning of her second life.

It became clear very quickly that she was going to have to rethink her original plan of “go back in time, figure things out, save the world”. For all that Takara was grateful, she was also immensely frustrated by her lack of mobility. She couldn’t even lift her own head up for the first bit of her life, and the most exciting thing that happened was when Kushina took time to read her a new book.

_If only Sakura saw me now. She'd never let me live this down._

That thought was immediately followed with a bout of intense melancholy. The people she'd grown with, fought, bled, and shed tears with, no longer existed. But their younger counterparts were either alive or to be born, and Takara wasn't about to let their lives go to hell again.

If there was anything positive about her lack of mobility, it was the amount of time it afforded Takara. Yes, time was frustratingly slow and boring without things to do, but it was space to think and organize and _plan_. Taking down several of the most dangerous people to grace the Elemental Nations wasn't something to be undertaken lightly.

From what Takara had managed to gather, she'd been born not long after the end of the Second Great Shinobi War. Her parents looked young, late teens at their best. They hesitated in taking her anywhere, and the village was still recovering - both the buildings and the people - making it no place for a baby. Due to her parents’ young age and decided lack of marriage, most of her time was spent with her mother. Her fierce, protective, caring mother that she'd never had enough time with in her original life.

The first time she'd finally comprehended that she was _back_ , that the seal had _worked_ , she'd bawled for a solid two hours. Both parents had taken it as some sign of impending apocalypse, and as entertaining as the two of them were when fretting unnecessarily over her state, Takara simply couldn't help but being overwhelmed. There were so many emotions for Takara to sort and organize and process, something that took her at least a month to do.

It was at that point when Takara finally remembered why she was here in the first place. Can't blame a girl for having an emotional breakdown over her not-so-dead parents.

In the month that she'd spent in awe of her parents, Takara found that her memories of her former life had slowly begun to fade. She could still recall every major detail, every heartbreaking moment, but the smaller, insignificant things were beginning to slip away.

The first time Takara couldn't recall the name of her main messenger-nin, or what it was like to help soothe those in the medic tent with Sakura, or any number of other, smaller - inconsequential, in the scheme of things - details, she'd freaked out yet again. Her mother was beginning to think she might be colicky or sick, perhaps, while Takara was left wondering why her breakdowns were so often and unannounced.

It probably had something to do with the fact that she was physically under one year old, but Takara liked to believe she hadn't fully regressed to a childlike psyche.

In order to rectify the potentially disastrous situation, Takara took to copying down all of the details she could possibly recall about her former life. The upside to sleeping two-thirds of the day was that she could spend some of that time working in her mindscape, her control over which had thankfully remained with her soul when it was transferred. She did have an odd habit of wavering between her current form and her original form, but Takara chalked it up to her slight identity crisis and moved on to more important things.

Unlike the sewer that her mindscape was in her previous life, Takara altered the area to replicate her favorite spot: the clearing just above the Hokage Mountain that displayed all of Konoha in the distance. It was a beautiful scene, stuck eternally in the hour just before sunset where everything was bathed in a warm, golden hue. She conjured a small shelf to begin storing her memory-scrolls on, though she'd likely have to find a better spot to conceal them when she got older. For now, her main focus was simply remembering and preserving, lest she miss a detail that would bring about the unraveling of this world just as her own had ended.

Her mental form was of some interest, however. She'd originally awoken inside her mindscape with her original body, including the tan skin and hair a shade that resembled a pumpkin. The next time she showed up, her coloring was more reminiscent of her current life. She really did look like her mother, the same shade of red hair, similar violet-blue eyes. Takara had taken it in stride, choosing to remain focused on her task instead.

Takara hadn't been given much information on Uchiha Obito’s past, but she knew he had once been her father's student. Given the fact that she had not seen any of her father's students, she could assume that he had not received that assignment just yet. What she knew of the once-joyful Uchiha had come through Kakashi-sensei, memories and stories always tinted with regret and self-hate. Takara would do anything to save her precious teacher from that fate again, but she wasn't sure if she'd be mobile enough to affect any actual change in time.

Obito’s turning moment - besides the obvious near-death experience - was when Rin sacrificed herself, taking a Chidori to the chest before she could be used to level Konoha. Not that Obito realized any of that. Perhaps if she could figure out a way to stabilize Rin’s seal, she'd save the girl and give Obito something to live for, instead of turning immediately to the dark.

If not, she'd have to devise a way to counter the Kyuubi attack with as little a body count as possible. From what her mother told her, Kushina could have survived the extraction (it was at about a 3% chance, but it was still a chance, and Takara specialized in the impossible) if she hadn't been speared on Kurama's claw alongside her father. There had to be some way to either return Kurama to her mother, or transfer it to her brother and another container without the cost of her father’s soul.

She'd be damned if she lived a life without them again.

It would help if she had a centuries old bijuu to work with, but her mindscape was frustratingly empty besides herself. And even if she could communicate with the current Kurama, he'd never believe her without his memories to back everything up. Takara wouldn't have the ability to transfer those memories for at least three or four years, likely more in all honesty, so for now she was stuck with a snarling ball of anger and hate stowed just out of reach in her mother’s midsection.

Honestly though, if Takara had her way, she'd tear both Madara and the supremely annoying Black Zetsu apart right now and be done with it, rather than play the long game and let people hurt and die, but she just didn't have that option. No one believed Madara was alive and she had no idea where Black Zetsu was, neither did she have the physical prowess to kill either of them.

So Takara resigned herself to countering each and every single plan they had, methodically and with about fifteen different backup plans each. If there was one thing she learned from fighting in the war, it was that both were quite difficult to kill.

Then there was Orochimaru to think about. The man may once have had redeemable qualities, but in Takara’s mind, there was nothing redeemable once innocent blood was shed unnecessarily. Somewhat fortunately for him, he was a small fish that Takara could postpone until later.

Akatsuki, before it was manipulated by Obito, was actually a very promising ideal. Nagato had very similar ideas about peace to hers, he just went about executing them vastly different. Perhaps it could still be a force for good if Takara was able to interfere. But, given the fact that she was the child of two high-ranking, very important people, she doubted they'd let her step foot outside the village until she was chunin-level _at least_. And that was if her over-protective father (she could already see it in his fanatical obsession about her care) didn't lock her up behind doors and gates and strongly warded seals first.

Last but far from least was Danzo. While it was true had had accomplished some good in the name of Konoha, he'd also (or, at least, would) commit enough treason to potentially get even a Kage executed. If at all possible, she preferred to avoid the traumatization and conditioning of his perfect little soldiers. They were hell to assimilate into the forces after Danzo had died in her first life. And she'd also never truly forgiven him for giving the order that cost her lover his precious brother, his loving - if distant - family, and his sanity all in one night. Takara couldn't ignore the fact that Itachi also had everything ripped to shreds in moments by one order as well. Something told her if Itachi had survived to fight alongside their forces, the tide would have been vastly different.

Of course, the rebellion that had been brewing in one of Konoha’s oldest clans would have to be dealt with, but no Kyuubi attack meant nothing to further ostracized them with. That part of her plan wasn't perfect, but certainly her knucklehead father had a diplomatic bone somewhere in his body to work things over with.

The weight of what her return meant was beginning to drag Takara down. There was so many events to change, people to save, things to do. She couldn’t possibly save everyone. And knowing herself, Takara was liable to take every death personally. After all, what good was knowledge of what the future held if she could do nothing to change it.

That particular night had been one of the first she actually woke in the early hours. She could not override her infant body’s automatic response to harsh emotions, and her tiny sobs echoed through the small apartment. Her parents took it as a sign that the world was about to end, but having the two shinobi there to comfort her went a long way in assuaging Takara’s fears. She slowly drifted back off to sleep, resolve hardening and determination setting in.

* * *

The next day began with the somewhat comical scene of Namikaze Minato trying to give his young child a bottle of milk.  
  
"Come on Takara-chan! You need to drink in order to get stronger," he said, trying to coax her into drinking the liquid.

Mentally, Takara made a face. It was one thing to think about being a child again, it was another to be condemned to a solely-milk diet and - worst of all - having to wear _diapers_ . That alone made her quite the grumpy child, and she wasn’t about to let Minato out easily. If she was going to suffer, he’d better suffer a bit too. Granted, she wasn’t quite cruel enough to wake them in the night if she didn’t have to, so at least they got more sleep than the average parent.   
  
After she finished drinking, Minato changed her into day clothes, ready for a day out. Takara could have wept from the joy. The inside of her parents’ small house was lovely, but also incredibly boring at times. There was the added bonus of being able to try and discern more about exactly when she was, so Takara was more than ready for an outing. Kushina finished with her work around the house and they both took her to what ended up being a doctor's appointment.   
  
"Hello Minato-san," said the receptionist in a cheerful voice. Despite the fact that he was standing there with his (future) wife and daughter did not stop the woman from openly flirting with him. A tick appeared next to Kushina’s eye, and Takara mentally began placing bets as to when she’d jump over the desk and strangle the other woman. Alas, that did not happen, though it would have certainly been entertaining.   
  
"Hello Megumi-san, we're here for Takara's check-up. It should be with Takenaga-san, correct?" Minato said. There was a sound of shifting paper, before the woman found the right form and replied,   
  
"That is correct. She'll be on the third floor, room 309."   
  
Her parents ended up taking the civilian route to the room. Not that she could blame them, any sort of shushin or other jutsu-assisted travel was dangerous for small children. They waited for a few minutes before the doctor came in.   
  
"Kushina-chan! You look great! And this must be little Takara-chan," the doctor said.   
  
"Hello, Hikari-chan. Yeah, we're here for the six-month checkup," Kushina replied.   
  
"Well, let's get this little one on the table then."   
  
Hikari lifted her from Minato's arms. The comfort and warmth that she had been enjoying dissipated quite quickly, which Takara was not fond of. An unhappy mewl escape Takara’s mouth before she could stop it.   
  
"Aw, so cute! Already missing her daddy!" Hikari cooed.   
  
She was set down on a cold table, and an involuntary shiver ran down Takara’s body. This was the type of situation when she became slightly nervous. If anything was out of place with brain readings or activity, Takara might be facing a soft probe from the Yamanakas. There were a few lower-level mindwalkers employed in the hospital for things like psych evals and such, but even they would be able to tell she didn’t have the mental attitude of an infant. Takara filed away that thought, planning on rigging something to disguise her mental state when she was asleep later on. Thankfully, nothing appeared to be out of order for the med-nin.   
  
"She is perfectly normal, albeit growing a bit quickly, but we see that in a few children who just naturally develop faster. She will need a few shots before leaving, though, so bring her down to room 211 for that, alright?"   
  
"Alright," Kushina replied, gathering Takara into her arms.   
  
The shots didn’t take long, and the medic nin there praised Takara for being such a strong girl. Of course, they had no idea that she had, at one point in her life, experienced a Chidori to the chest and this was nothing compared to that. Both parents travelled back to the house directly after, placing Takara into her crib for a nap. She tried to fight the tiredness, but her lead-filled eyelids drooped lower and lower.

* * *

Takara’s life continued on in a slow-moving pace for quite a while. It seemed like the days stretched on and on, as there was so many things she wanted to do, but physically couldn't. She had, however, begun to start forming words to the best of her ability. The delight on Kushina’s face when she said “Ka-chan” first pleased Takara to no end. Of course, the fiery woman was quick to hold it over her love’s head that their child had talked to her first. Takara followed up with “Tou-san” pretty quickly so that he wouldn’t quite feel left out. From there, small words and phrases were easier to form and speak. While Takara didn’t necessarily want to hold herself back, for fear of losing time to act on the events that needed to change, she also didn’t want to call any wary attention to herself. A certain amount of genius was allowed, given whose progeny she was, but if she was speaking in full, eloquent sentences at the age of nearly one, that would ring some alarm bells.  
  
The only conundrum left at the moment was how to conceal her elevated mental presence from invaders. Sure, she could alter how she appeared in her mind at will, but there were certain tells that would immediately give her away to any Yamanaka worth their salt, i.e. the collection of memories and records from her past life. Setting herself to the task of designing a failsafe, Takara worked tirelessly while she was asleep to design a solution that seemed to be just out of reach.

  
A jutsu wouldn’t work, as she was at least another two-ish (maybe less if she pulled the prodigy card) years away from beginning to mould chakra. The breakthrough that Takara needed came to her one day while she was recording the events directly before her travel through time. She could use a seal. Takara mentally slammed her head against a tree at that. Honestly, she really should have thought of that sooner and saved herself a week’s worth of (admittedly distracted) research and brainstorming. Seals had been a huge part of her last life, and the fact that that solution hadn’t immediately popped into her brain worried her. She hoped to get to work on developing shinobi skills soon, lest she begin to forget those as well...

**砂時計**

****


	3. Allégro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Shikamaru would say, growing up is a drag.

**砂時計**

_Allégro: A term applied to bright, fast, or brisk steps and movement._  
  
**砂時計**  
  
The first time Takara met Uchiha Mikoto, the woman was overflowing with joy. In fact, Takara didn't know if she'd ever seen an Uchiha show that much emotion ever. Of course, the fact that said Uchiha’s best friend just had a child, the same child she was meeting for the first time, probably factored into it. Everyone went crazy at the sight of tiny infants.

“Kushina I can't believe it! She's so adorable! I can't believe that it took me this long to get to you. Have you been hiding Takara-chan from me on purpose?” Mikoto chirped as she picked up the pint sized Namikaze.

Takara simply waved “hello” at the woman, which of course caused her to explode from even more cuteness.

The time traveller really wasn't looking forward to intimidating people if she had this effect. They'd probably laugh in her face instead.

“So Miko-chan, when are you and that stuck-up husband of yours having your own?” Kushina prodded.

A soft blush spread across the Uchiha’s face.

“I'm sure it'll be soon, the elders have been pushing us for an heir after all.”

Mikoto began running her fingers through Takara’s hair, and the redhead couldn’t help but relax at the feeling. She’d never particularly cared for such a thing in her first life, but she'd discovered about a month back that it was such a pleasant sensation. She slowly began drifting off, her late night mental work catching up with her.

* * *

Kushina let a soft smile slip onto her face as she watched her baby girl slip away in Mikoto’s arms. She was such a calm child, the exact opposite of what everyone had told her she would get. She distinctly remembered Yoshino teasing her that the child would probably be a spitfire not unlike herself. But, judging by what she'd seen so far, Takara took much more after her husband with his cool, somewhat aloof persona. Even if it concealed somewhat of an airheaded dreamer.

It would certainly be interesting to watch her baby develop.

“How has it been, Kushi-chan? It can't imagine that taking care of a baby with everything going on is easy,” Mikoto began. “Even if she is literally the easiest child I've ever seen. Seriously, you got far too lucky!”

That question reminded Kushina of the struggles she'd been trying to avoid. Despite being officially in a time of peace, Kushina was being pushed to return to active duty. She was a highly-valued kunoichi, mostly because she was the jinchuriki, but she also had other skills. It was a miracle that she'd had this long with her child in the first place. Kushina suspected that it had something to with with the council not wanting to risk the Kyuubi getting free. It had tried while she was in labor, after all. Normally kunoichi who became mothers were back in action after six months at the most if they returned to active duty, but Kushina had been given almost a full year so far.

She was not looking forward to going back into the field and leaving her child with some babysitter.

“Takara-chan really is such a wonderful little girl. When she was first born, sometimes she would wake up hysterical. It took us forever to calm her down. But that only lasted for about a month, otherwise she’s mostly slept through the night and kept to herself. I was honestly as shocked as you that she’s such an easy baby!” Kushina replied with a smile. She brushed a few stray hairs from Takara’s head. The baby stirred, but remained asleep on Mikoto’s shoulder.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, who do you suggest for day-care Miko-chan? I know there are a few babysitters around, but I really don’t trust Takara with just anyone, given who her parents are.”

“I understand how you feel,” Mikoto said. “I know that the Uchiha have specific people dedicated to watching over children of shinobi, but I’m fairly certain they’re only available to clan members, sorry. I know you don’t have any family, but does Minato-san have some?”

“He was an orphan, but I remember him saying something about an older sister. I believe they were separated at the orphanage, but tried to keep in touch fairly often. She might still be in the village. Maybe I should ask him…” Kushina trailed off.

Takara began to shift, and Kushina stepped forward to take the child.

“I should probably put her to sleep for her actual nap, but it was lovely seeing you Miko-chan! We should definitely do this more often, dattebane!”

Kushina bid the Uchiha matriarch goodbye and saw her to the door. Once she was out of sight, Kushina returned to Takara’s room to set the girl in her bed properly. Takara shifted and opened her eyes briefly, before succumbing to the depths of sleep once again.

* * *

Between planning how to save the world, reveling in the fact that she had parents again, and dealing with the frustration that was being stuck in an infant body, time seemed to pass by quickly. Takara had been working on her physical motor skills, which took up quite a bit of her effort and energy. More than once Takara cursed her child body for being able to do less than a limp noodle, but that wasn’t much that could be done besides practice and repetition.

The day that she took her first step, Minato was the one watching her, as Kushina had gone out to get groceries. Takara had finally managed to steady her wobbling legs, and took a measured step forward while still clutching the side of the couch. She heard a slight gasp, and her mouth twitched into a smile when her father ran off to get the camera and returned in a scant few seconds, intent on recording the moment. There were about five hundred photos taken, Takara could swear, and Takara mentally started making bets on how many scrapbooks they’d fill up before she was two.

As soon as Kushina returned, Minato joyfully showed her the photo and they both proceeded to coo at Takara for several minutes. She took the moment to bask in the praise, fairly certain she would never grow tired of the affection and love that stemmed from a parent’s bond with their child.

It wasn’t long before Takara was startled to realize how much time had passed when her parents decided to throw her a birthday party. Granted, not too many people were close to the child, as Kushina had avoided taking her out much thus far, but there were still enough people to come join in a small celebration. Biwako, the wife of Sarutobi-jiji who had passed away in her first go around, was one such person, as well as both Jiraiya-sensei and Kushina’s sensei, a woman Takara did not recognize either. The only reason she knew who Biwako was is because of the photo Sarutobi-jiji always had on his desk. The Hokage himself had attempted to attend the party, but was guilted back into paperwork, or so Biwako reported. He sent his regards with his wife instead.

Kushina, being the exuberant person she was, demanded to go all out for this party. She required streamers and balloons and a fairly impressive cake, but thankfully kept it at not too much more than that. It was a bit solemn, the idea of spending Takara’s second first birthday away from her original family and friends. The fact that they may not ever be the same people again spoke to the fact that while Takara was going to try and keep everything the same, she couldn’t let everything happen exactly as it had before. These new iterations of the people that would become her family would hopefully grow up in a much more peaceable time.

“Takara! It’s time to cut your cake! Come to kaa-chan sweetie!” Kushina called from across the room.

Takara shook her head to rid herself of the deep thoughts, storing them for later pondering, and turned to the woman. She took a moment to push herself to her feet and slowly toddled over to the redhead, arms outstretched.

“Walking so confidently already, she’d such a talented little girl!” Biwako commented, watching Kushina pull the child into her arms.

“She really is, Minato and I have been exceedingly lucky as parents,” Kushina replied. Her pride was easily visible through the beaming smile on her face, and Takara couldn’t help but muster a small smile as well.

“I mean, is it really a surprise though,” crowed Jiraiya. “Her tou-san was a certified genius, and you aren’t a slouch either Kushina. A genius baby was bound to happen. That or a vicious terror.”

That comment earned him a smack to the back of the head from Minato.

“Sensei, I highly doubt we’d have that much of a terror child,” he whined.

Jiraiya levelled him a look.

“Have you seen your wife at her most destructive and troublemaking?”

Minato could only sweatdrop.

“Anyways, I believe we were about to do the cake,” Kushina said, raising her voice to be heard over the small pockets of conversation.

The group gathered around the small table, and Takara was placed in a child seat closest to the cake with a large candle decorating the top. A chorus of “happy birthday” broke out, and Takara was filled with warmth as she looked at the people there to celebrate and support her. The song ended, and Takara quickly blew out the candle, before taking the opportunity to grab a fistful of cake and smash it in her unsuspecting father’s face. He’d made the mistake of being just within reach, and Takara simply had to take the moment when it came.

The click of a camera sounded, and Takara smirked at the cake-filled face of the future fourth Hokage.

“That was a cheap shot, Takara-chan!” Minato cried as he grabbed a napkin to wipe it off.

“You silly,” was Takara’s only reply, but she couldn’t keep her giggles under control and burst into laughter.

“That’s it! The tickle monster is coming for you!” Minato cried, taking advantage of Takara’s distracted state.

Kushina simply set down the camera and grinned at the comotion, opting instead to start serving pieces of cake.

“She’s still got your penchant for tricks I see,” a voice sounded to her left.

“Trickery is essential for all ninja, ‘Nome-sensei. I wouldn’t dream of keeping her from it,” Kushina replied in mock sincerity.

“I might’ve believed you, except your poker face is horrendous.”

The small grin on Kushina’s face grew wider, and she returned to passing out cake to the others.

* * *

Given that Takara had ample time on her hands, she decided that it was time to begin working with her chakra. Granted, it would not be an easy task, as she had brand new coils, chakra, and no control whatsoever. On the plus side she had at least some of the theory that she remembered, but she was still in for an uphill battle.

One morning while Kushina was properly distracted and her father was out doing who knows what, Takara sat herself down in a comfortable corner and began to meditate. Conveniently in this life, she had a much easier time focusing, though it was still a challenge for her child self. She had a higher control over mental skills and abilities, but chakra was combining both mental and physical, which was the source of her problems. Takara had gotten used to the feel of an infant body, but her brain still thought of chakra as, and was used to using it in, an adult system. The first time Takara even tried to reach any of it had been about a month ago, and she’d nearly damaged her system by trying to access too much at once. Not to mention the fact that it would set off warning bells in her parents. If she was going to succeed, she’d need the smallest bit of chakra she could pull from her admittedly tiny resources.

That was another issue. Takara’s previous battle strategies had depended on large ninjutsu that she backed up with an essentially endless pool of chakra. Said pool no longer existed, and she momentarily mourned the fact that she may never accomplish a mass shadow clone jutsu again.

Kami, she’d better have beautiful chakra control this time around to compensate for the struggle it’d been to work with so far. If she could manipulate minute bits of chakra at this age, she might be able to keep improving on that and have the same control when her chakra stores had matured.

Takara turned her mind back to her exercises to find that it had fizzled again. She huffed, but could only blame herself as she’d become distracted by thought. She shut her eyes once more and visualized her chakra streams. They could barely be considered stores, they were so tiny. Thankfully she didn’t have much trouble locating the chakra, all she had to do was feel for the nature of it.

Apparently her wind nature had carried over into this life, because Takara was met with the familiar feeling of a slight breeze. That was definitely disappointing compared to the tornado that it had been in her past life, but perhaps she could build it up to at least gale-force. Wind was also a slippery element, dancing in and out of her control like it had a life of its own. In her past, Takara had simply grabbed a handful and stuck it in whatever jutsu she was preparing, but now she was attempting to do something akin to pulling on a single strand of wind. Which was eluding her easily, unfortunately.

Something pricked at the back of her mind, and Takara had retained enough of her fight or flight skills to immediately drop what she was doing and put her child face back on. Kushina came around the corner a moment later to check on the girl.

“Are you hungry Takara-chan? It’s almost lunchtime.”

“Soon,” was all Takara could verbalize, before she looked back at the picture book she’d been pretending to work on.

“Alrighty, we’re eating in half an hour whether you like it or not, love.”

Kushina retreated to the kitchen where she was preparing things, and Takara relaxed a bit.

The fact that she’d noticed Kushina’s approach when she was fully concentrating on her own chakra was intriguing. Normally she was completely blind to the outside world when she did that, or at least she had been when she’d lived her previous life. Perhaps she had some sensing abilities this time around.

Takara closed her eyes once again, this time extending her senses around her instead of focusing them inward. Everything was still for a moment, before she detected another flicker just like the one she’d felt moments previous in the direction her mother had walked. She got the taste of a salty sea breeze, and realized that it must’ve been connected to her mother, since she was the only other person in the house.

_Huh. This sensing could be extremely beneficial if I can hone it. Sea breeze...maybe Kaa-chan has some sort of wind type? But it has a soggy feeling too...wind and water? Intriguing…_

She pushed her focus towards the signature a bit more, and was met with an underlying feeling of heat. The more time she spent focusing on it, the hotter it became, almost like she was getting too close to a katon jutsu. It was augmented by the sound of crackling, a sound she heard many times during the war with the campfires she’d lit to stay warm.

_That would be Kurama then. He always did have an affinity towards pyromania._

As Takara was about to pull her senses back in, she caught another flash, this time from the general direction of up. It pulsed slightly and then flickered out before pulsing and disappearing once more. The chakra itself smelled like fresh-cut grass. There was also a hint of heat on Takara’s face, like she was standing in direct sun, but the grass smell dominated the sun’s feel.

_What is that? There’s no one else here, is there? Kaa-chan would have told me, and we don’t live close enough to the main thoroughfares that other nin should be using our house to roof jump. So who is that? And why was it such a weird pattern?_

Takara felt a tap on her shoulder, which startled her from the sensory plane. She’d been so focused on the stranger that she’d missed her mother’s sea-air chakra approaching her this time. Kushina had an inquisitive look on her face, but it was quickly replaced by a sweet smile.

“It’s been thirty minutes Takara-chan, lunchtime!”

Pushing the feeling that Kushina suspected exactly what she’d been up to in the back of her mind, Takara pulled her child persona back on and started to slowly push herself to her feet. She’d been getting better at the whole walking thing and was up to short distances. She mostly used it in her house, as outside it wasn’t worth causing her mother the stress. Hopefully she’d be able to condition her legs and other muscles to support her well soon enough, because it was slightly embarrassing to be carried around the entire village. Though, it was not as bad as the whole diaper situation. _That_ was mortifying, to say the least.

When did children get potty trained? Could she convince her parents to start early?

Takara placed that concern next on her to do list before she turned back to reality to eat the lunch her mother had prepared.

* * *

The Uchiha clan did not waste any time in providing an heir, and it wasn’t long before Fugaku and Mikoto made the official announcement. Of course, Mikoto came to tell Kushina the news in person before she could hear it from anyone else. Takara found the friendship between her mother and Sasuke’s endearing, but it also raised questions about what had happened in the past. If Kushina and Mikoto had truly been close, what happened to that bond after Kushina passed? Certainly the fact that the Uchiha were pigeonholed into a corner had something to do with it, but Mikoto could have done something small at the very least. Unless, of course, she had no idea about Takara’s birth the first time around. That seemed an even more probable situation, as the birth of a jinchuriki’s child would certainly have to be a well-guarded secret. Extreme trauma like childbirth weakened seals based on will-power, such as her mother’s, so Takara understood the reasoning.

Then there was the interesting tidbit of her father’s sister. Where had that woman come from, because there had never been any mention of her in the previous timeline. Had she perished before Takara had met her previously? Maybe in Kurama’s attack that killed so many others? Or perhaps this timeline was not as strict a copy of hers as Takara had been thinking, but rather had slight differences that were quite difficult to discern. That would certainly throw a wrench into Takara’s plans.

From what Takara overheard of her parents’ discussion, her mother wanted Minato’s sister to come watch her. That is, if the woman could be trusted. She and Minato had conversed somewhat throughout their years in Konoha, but with the Second Shinobi War raging on and Minato called to a larger increase of missions, they hadn’t spoken in some time. Apparently, Namikaze Kaiyo, as her name was, had settled for chunin rank before dropping active missions and choosing to become a substitute academy teacher instead. During the war she’d been utilized more on guard duty for the civilian sectors and Academy children.

Normally that kind of situation would be perfectly respectable, but something didn’t sit quite right with Takara once she finally met the woman. Kaiyo moved just a little too well, her mannerisms didn’t quite fit her supposed persona. She’d observed the woman once or twice when her mother and father met up with her to get back in touch, but stayed scarce because her senses screamed “danger!”, and Takara had learned long ago during a time of war that gut instinct usually kept you from getting killed. A strange feeling kept tugging at her mind, telling Takara that the puzzle pieces didn’t quite fit together the way that Kaiyo had presented them. Intent on getting to the bottom of this conundrum, Takara decided to get to know the woman close-up and in person, utilizing her childish charms in the process.

Apparently no one could resist Takara in her child state, because the very first time Kaiyo arrived at their house, the woman practically melted.

“Oh wow Minato-chan! I can’t believe you have such a cute baby! Why haven’t you mentioned this to me ever? Just because we just got back in touch doesn’t mean you get to leave out such important information!” Kaiyo squealed.

There was a knowing glint in Kaiyo’s eye, however, and Takara suspected that the woman knew all about her already.

Kaiyo swept Takara up into her arms and gave her a twirl, the child’s laughter filling the air around them.

“Hey, just because I haven’t mentioned her yet doesn’t mean I was going to keep her from meeting her aunt forever,” Minato cried, indignant.

“So you say otouto. Maybe I’ll just steal her to make up for all the time I’ve missed! I mean, she’s already one and a half!”

“You’ll have plenty of time to get to know her this week. Kushina’s finally been recalled for a mission, and I’m away for a week as well, so you’ll have full reign of the house. Just please don’t break anything while we’re gone.”

Kaiyo turned to face him from where she’d been spinning in circles with Takara.

“You have such little faith in me Minato-chan. Takara-chan and I will be fine, go on with your mission and don’t worry!”

Minato sighed, and finally decided to give in to the whirlwind that was his sister.

“Alright, if you say so. Behave, Takara, we’ll be back before you know it.”

Takara pushed her way out of Kaiyo’s arms, dropping to the floor and running over to her father. She snagged him in a hug, and if she held him a little bit tighter than usual, Minato didn’t notice or mention it. He then bid his goodbyes and stepped out of the house. Takara turned to her aunt, who had a conspiratorial look on her face.

  
“So what should we do first, Takara-chan?”  
  
**砂時計**  
  
**Recommended Read:**  
_Second Chances: Azure Blue Moon Rewritten by Starian NightZz_  
FemNaru/Madara  
AU TimeTravel FemNaru. Namikaze Sayo never meant for this to happen. All she wanted to do was to kill the councilors responsible for her current plight. So why the hell is she stuck in the time of the shinobi clan wars, befriending a young Uchiha Madara? In-progress


	4. Développé

**砂時計**

_Développé: a classical ballet term meaning "to develop," or "developing movement."_

**砂時計**

Takara's time with her supposed aunt passed quite uneventfully. Her parents were unavailable for the next three days, which slipped by at the pace of molasses. That was mostly due to the fact that Kaiyo would not let Takara out of her sight. Her parents left her alone enough to get some basic sensory training in during the daytime, but Kaiyo devoted her full attention to the toddler. The odds of Kaiyo being someone completely different than she presented kept growing, and it caused Takara to be restless.

If there's one thing Takara hated, it was unknown variables. There had been too many of those that led to destruction during the war, and she wasn't about to let anything like that happen again. Knowledge was a powerful tool, and currently she had a one-up on likely everyone around her. But she'd have to be careful. If people started realizing just how powerful she was, she'd lose all her trump cards immediately.

Finally Minato and Kushina returned, slightly battered but not particularly worse for the wear. From what Takara could hear, they'd been out on scouting missions. The Second Great Shinobi War had not ended that long ago, but already the world was falling into chaos again.

_Will there never be peace? Will it always have an irreplaceable cost?_

Takara was dragged back into the memories she'd worked for more than two years to erase. She knew it was a futile effort really, but she couldn't help but try. Her dreams ran red with blood, and she continuously watched as her precious ones died in front of her. Sometimes they matched what had actually happened, but other times her mind was frightfully good at conjuring up new ways for her family and friends to meet their end. Now that she'd grown new bonds, sometimes Minato and Kushina made their way into her nightmares as well. There was many nights where she nearly woke with a scream, but attempted to stifle it before her parents realized what was happening. There was a few times that they caught her, and it was all Takara could do in her nightmare-induced haze to pass her night terrors off as the thought of her parents dying in battle.

"Oh honey, you don't have to worry about that," Kushina said one night as she sat on the end of her daughter's bed.

The girl was only two, but clearly was terrified of such a thing as her parents' death. Kushina supposed it wasn't all that uncommon. Takara was a smart child, she knew that both Minato and Kushina were shinobi and what that duty could potentially entail. Kushina ached to comfort her daughter and tell her that everything would be okay, but these days, even she couldn't lie that much.

The village was gearing up for war again. She'd heard whispers, seen the teams coming back worse for the wear after missions with supposedly low levels of danger. Kushina had even noticed an increased presence in ANBU guarding her, more so than normal. In times of peace she was either left alone or had one guard shadowing her while in the village, but lately it had been two or three. It seemed that Sarutobi was becoming more concerned about the chances of their jinchuriki being stolen or ambushed to keep her out of the impending war.

_Hmpf. If only they cared about me for more reasons than because I hold the Kyuubi,_  Kushina thought snidely. She'd long become used to the idea of people in power misusing her, however unfortunate, so this was nothing new.

Kushina looked back to her baby girl, who was now curled up against her chest and breathing more easily. She'd been thinking of getting Tsubaki or one of her clansmen to look into Takara's head. Nightmares of this level shouldn't be this commonplace in a child of just over two years, so perhaps something was wrong. Kushina looked to her abdomen briefly where the seal holding the demon lay. They'd assured her that the Kyuubi had left no mark on her child, but it was always possible that they'd missed something.

"I'll do whatever it takes to help you and keep you safe, Takara-chan," Kushina murmured, pressing a kiss into her child's hair. She laid Takara back down on her bed and stepped out of the room quietly, mind full of questions and concerns.

* * *

The day when her father came home with news of his genin team, Takara was taken off-guard. Her father's team was a significant part of why the world went to hell, so she had to get in and disrupt the course of things in any way she could. Of course, things were going to be a little more difficult to work with since she was a tiny child.

Minato's first meeting with his team apparently went well, as they were all he could speak about that night.

"Rin-chan is highly dedicated, but she's got soft edges as well, really. She's basically the peacemaker between the two boys. Obito-kun and Kakashi-kun are polar opposites. I'm fairly certain that if they can get over their issues, they'd be a great team. However, there's a lot of things to work through," Minato explained over dinner.

"They're fresh genin, Minato-kun. They're not going to be perfect right off the bat. How is Kakashi-kun? It's been nearly a year now, hasn't it?" Kushina asked.

"Yeah, just about a year. He seems to have closed himself off the everything, only caring about the rules and regulations. It's understandable, given what he went through, but it isn't doing him any favors."

Dinner continued on, with Takara slowly working her way through the dish on her own. The dexterity needed to grasp chopsticks was just another milestone on the way to handling kunai and other weapons, so she'd been focusing on that lately. But in all honesty, if she couldn't get to Obito before Madara did, none of what she'd planned or been working towards already would matter.

Obito set so many events into motion, and though it was partially at the manipulation of Zetsu, he was still the driving force. If Takara could gain Obito's loyalty instead, that was just another block in the way of Kaguya's plans. Of course, Zetsu might just change course and find another unwilling soul, so Takara had to tread lightly.

If Takara could keep Obito from going insane but still convince Madara that Obito was indoctrinated and completely subservient to his plans, things could possibly work out in the long game. Of course, the way that Madara had turned Obito in her original timeline had included the supposed death of Obito himself and the assisted suicide of Rin, both of which Takara would prefer to avoid.

_This whole saving the world business is too goddamned complicated. Kurama should've sent Shikamaru._

* * *

As Takara continued to occasionally practice her newfound sensory abilities, she realized that her mother always had at least one shadow with her at all times. Recently it had begun to grow to two or three occasionally. It rotated through a solid set of six or seven different signatures, each as distinctive as the next. The grass and sun signature was the most common however, and if Takara had to guess that was the main guard assigned to Kushina and the others were simply stand ins for when that one was unavailable, as well as extra back-up with war looming on the horizon.

It was a fairly smart thing for the Hokage to do, honestly. While it was nigh impossible for someone to come and steal the jinchuriki from the village proper, there is more than one way to incapacitate a jinchuriki. You never know who could be gathering information on them or even what the jinchuriki themselves would do. The ANBU could be functioning as a deterrent, warning off people with the potential for such a choice. Not to mention that the nature of human sacrifices was volatile, to say the least. Not many people stood the chance of beating a jinchuriki, but there were a few capable of stalling them if something went haywire.

The grass-and-sun ANBU was clearly one such person.

Takara couldn't really decide if she liked the idea of the guards or not. As the child of said jinchuriki, Takara was afforded a certain measure of protection from her mother's shadows, but it also meant if she was ever to sneak out once her skills had been honed enough, she'd have to get around at least one - if not more - fully alert, high-level shinobi.

Perhaps she'd look into developing that new clone she'd always intended to work with. Shadow clones were useful enough, but they could only take a certain amount of chakra. That's why Takara had always summoned so many when she made clones in her previous lifetime, it burnt off a lot of her excess chakra. The chakra limit on the clones also assured that they could only handle two or three hits at the very most before they dispelled. Before the world had gone to hell, Takara had been interested in the creation of a different type of clone, one that could hold enough chakra to sustain itself for much longer. She'd also dabbled in the idea of it hosting another consciousness as a way to give Kurama some exposure to the real world. She'd been throwing around fuinjutsu ideas for the consciousness transfer, but such techniques were out of her grasp at this time. She had much more time to develop the theory now however, so maybe she could get back to that.

If Takara could succeed in the creation of such a clone, it would make escaping from the ANBU guard much easier. Leaving a shadow clone in her place would make her worry about it dispelling once the chakra ran out, but an extended form of bunshin could buy her quite a bit of freedom to finally start meddling in this dimension's timeline.

Takara turned her focus back to the sensory world she was working in. She'd been trying to stretch her senses over the past few sessions, reaching out a few meters further each time. It was a snail's pace of improvement, but better than she was doing with reaching her own chakra. The energy was so goddamned slippery and flighty, it always danced away from her right as she was about to reach it. Perhaps the problem was that she did not have much at the current time, certainly less than in her first incarnation. She had the Uzumaki genes to boost the reserves, but there was no ancient chakra construct constantly leaking new chakra in to mix with her system and expand it.

Small flares of chakra lit up around her home, a few off-duty ninja making their way around the village. There were probably more people around, but civilians without chakra networks did not appear to Takara, which was a downfall she'd have to closely protect until she tried to figure out a way around it. Her father's signature (a combination of a static electricity feeling, the sound of rushing wind, and - if she focused closely enough - the feeling of standing too close to an open flame) indicated he was relaxing in the living room, taking advantage of some of the rare free time he had. Takara was just about to cut off her access to the sensory plane, when she recognized a signature approaching her house. It was the same grass-and-sun that perched above their house consistently, but it did not move like the skilled shinobi Takara knew this person was. Instead, it was approaching the front door to her home in a sedate manner more reminiscent of a civilian or fresh genin.

_Who is this person? Are they off the clock and yet still making contact?_

Takara opened her eyes and blinked a few times, re-adjusting to light after staying in the sensory plane for a while. As she did so, she heard a knock sound on the front door. Curious, Takara made her way into the living room as her father went to see who it was. She was entirely unprepared for the person revealed to her.

_Kaiyo-ba-san?_

Takara's mouth dropped in shock, but she quickly schooled her features into a nonchalant expression. The quick of a smile on Kaiyo's lips said that she hadn't been entirely successful in fooling the woman.

"Minato-chan! I had some extra cookies on hand and figured I drop by to pass them on to you guys. I accidentally added twice the amount of flour I needed, so I had to just double the whole thing," Kaiyo said as she stepped back from her greeting hug.

"Accidentally my butt, you just wanted to come see your niece," Minato teased.

He moved to usher her inside, but Kaiyo was having none of it.

"That is not always true, dearest otouto. This time I really did just come to bring these, though seeing your angel child is also a treat." Kaiyo gave a small wave to Takara. "I have to get going to other errands, tell Kushina we should meet up again soon, please."

Minato accepted the platter of baked goods, and bid her goodbye. Takara bit her lip, indecision crossing her face. She wondered if her father knew that the chunin-dropout Academy teacher persona Kaiyo put forward was not true, that she was one of the regular ANBU guards at their house. He had some kind of sensory abilities, but she didn't know if he'd been able to connect the dots as she did. He wasn't Hokage yet, so he wouldn't have access to the mission assignments and ANBU reports that would easily reveal the truth either.

If Kaiyo was far more skilled than she let on to her family, why wouldn't she tell him? True, ANBU assignments are always classified, but the whole teacher story just didn't fit with her actual skill level. Takara had felt it, the woman had a substantial amount of potent chakra, more than the average chunin could claim. Perhaps the persona was only for Takara, and the adults knew the truth? There was no way to tell.

Of course, Takara could always tell her father, but that might open a can of worms not worth releasing just yet.

Geniuses the likes of Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi were closely watched. Their accomplishment were heralded across other lands, bringing both fear and notoriety. They may be good at stealth, but there's a reason most high-level infiltration missions go to shinobi without such well-known reputations. If Takara began showing signs of joining the ranks of genius shinobi, her anonymity would be gone in a fleeting moment. She'd have no chance of making her way around the elemental nations without being recognized, and that could disrupt her plans entirely.

Plus, there was the matter of Shimura Danzo. He'd had a close watch on Itachi and manipulated him to the extreme, that much she'd picked up from Sasuke, and Takara had no doubt that he'd probably been involved with Kakashi's life as well. The warmonger simply couldn't handle having a genius weapon roam without a leash. Takara still wasn't sure what to do with the man - Root, despite their despicable intentions, did provide an out for when Konoha could not do certain things in broad daylight because of political ramifications - but she could not let him know that she was more than she let on. The old man was one of the most paranoid people she'd ever met, which was a lot considering most shinobi were a least a little paranoid due to their profession, and may subject her to testing and interrogation if she showed too much promise and skill with no teacher to back up her education.

For now, she'd have to keep the fact that she knew about her aunt's true assignment to herself. She'd have to act as if she knew nothing, because for all she distrusted the woman and did not want her anywhere near her parents if she was a spy, she had no way to prove it outside of her skills. A two and a half year old showing sensory prowess to the level of identifying specific people simply by chakra would draw more eyes than she could afford.

* * *

Given the amount of time Minato and Kushina had been together as well as the fact that they had a child together and effectively lived in the same house, it was only a matter of time before they decided to get married.

They figured that with war brewing on the horizon, they needed something to make things feel more permanent, as if a marriage bond could tie them together and keep them from being separated even by death. Of course, when Takara found out what they were planning, she had muscled her way in and involved herself in only the way small children could.

The ceremony wouldn't be extravagant, there was no need. Only the pair's closest friends were invited, a group totaling less than ten people. Jiraiya was coerced invited to perform the ceremony, and it was held in the backyard of Kusina's former sensei's home. Her clan, the Kurama, had long since begun to dwindle, and what better use of the beautiful clan grounds than a celebration of her little student's wedding.

Kushina, ever the quirky person she was, insisted on folding paper cranes for her wedding. She said it was to bring good luck and protection to her family, both of which Takara knew she'd need if things were going to work out. Takara tried to help, but that ended up with quite a few papercuts and malformed cranes that looked more like bushes. It was the thought that counted, however, and Kushina's heart was warmed by the fact that her daughter was on board with the entire thing.

Not that she was entirely worried - after all, Takara had known Minato all of her very short life and he practically lived with them - but one never knew how children would take a huge life change like a parent getting married.

The day of the wedding arrived, and Kushina took the morning to get ready with Takara and her genin team in the main house of her sensei's compound. The kimono was procured from a dressmaker not far into town a few weeks prior, and fit the woman like a glove.

"Kaa-chan, you look pretty!" Takara said excitedly. She pressed herself up against her mother's side as the woman took a moment to study her reflection in a full length mirror.

She couldn't believe she was here, witnessing her parents wedding. Had they even been married in her timeline? As far as she knew, Kushina had remained 'Uzumaki' until her death, but they could have been married all the same without her taking Minato's name.

"You're not so bad yourself, Takara-chan! You look so pretty in your kimono! Maybe I should make you wear them more often if you're going to keep being this adorable!" Kushina teased.

"Nooooo!" Takara squealed, laughter bubbling up as her mother snaked an arm out to pick the girl up.

She gripped Kushina tightly, taking in every possible detail to try and remember the moment. The next war would begin soon no doubt, and it was times like this that gave her fuel to defend her family. Not that she would be doing much as she was a tiny human, but that was beside the point.

"Are you all ready Kushina-chan? I think everything is set!" Yamanaka Tsubaki called from the doorway.

That had been another slight shock, finding out that Ino's mother was on the same genin team as Takara's mother. There were so many people connected to her parents that had the chance to reach out to her, and they didn't. They just left her to struggle and survive in Takara's first life, which left her with a bitter taste.

But now was not the moment to dwell on that. Takara shook her head to clear the brooding thoughts away, and turned her attention back to the woman of honor.

"I'm more than ready, dattebane! Let's get this show on the road!"

Kushina practically raced to the front door, dragging Takara along with her.

In the absence of a father figure, Kushina had decided that she would instead walk herself down the aisle, independent woman that she was. When she voiced such an opinion, Takara offered to accompany her as well. Kushina's heart had melted at that, and she'd immediately acquiesced to the request.

The mother and daughter pair made their way over to the small group of chairs functioning as the ceremony location. The garden that it was located in was beautiful, if a bit old and disused. Kushina and Takara walked over the small bridge that spanned the koi pond, and ended up in front of Minato.

She sure had picked a handsome husband, Kushina couldn't help but note. He looked splendid in the traditional black kimono, and come to think of it, she couldn't remember if she'd ever actually seen him in a kimono before. Kushina guided Takara to the middle of both her parents, and smiled at the look of joy and wonder on the girl's face.

The ceremony was short and sweet - Jiraiya only mentioned two dirty jokes in that time, which was a new record for him - and then they moved on the small lunch that had been prepared. There was much happiness to be had by all who had come, a welcome relief from the stressors of current times. The guests lingered for a short while, before returning to their own homes.

"Ne Minato, how does it feel? Being married?" Kushina asked once they had returned to their own home.

The two had decided to keep Kushina's apartment since it was the most lived in and had the most space. Minato's was packed up by shadow clones during the ceremony - what little was not at his new wife's house already, at least - and he would speak to the landlord later that week.

"I can't entirely say it's extremely different, but I'm glad to have you forever now," he replied.

"You had me forever before silly," Kushina teased, sticking her tongue out.

"You know what I mean," he said, exasperated.

Minato turned his attention to the sleeping bundle in his arms. Takara had lasted most of the day, but the evening was drawing closer to night, and she'd slipped into dreamland on the trip back to her parents' house.

"Sometimes I still can't believe we have this beautiful little girl, Kushi," Minato said as he quietly shifted onto the couch, careful not to disturb the toddler.

"I know. I love her more than life itself. Now that we have her, I can't imagine life without her. That also could be dangerous with war brewing on the horizon, however."

Both adults sobered up a bit at that notion. Despite the fairytale-like day that they'd had, they were shinobi first and foremost. Takara may be their number one priority, but that also meant she was their blatant weakness.

"We'll just have to get stronger and better to protect her and each other, my love," Minato said. "That's the only way that we'll truly be able to keep her safe."

Kushina sighed.

"I suppose you're right. I've been working on a few new barrier and ward seals for the apartment. Kaiyo will be the one to take care of Takara since she'll be stationed in the village most likely, but I'll rest easier knowing she'd protected by my family's fuinjutsu. I wish I knew the best way to apply a seal to her to monitor her. But blood ink seals are far too volatile to be put on someone without a developed chakra system. Not to mention they'd be experimental, which is even worse. I guess I'll have to stick with beefing up the security matrices."

Minato thought back to the journal Sarutobi had given him with recently. It contained notes on the Nidaime Hokage's teleportation jutsu, and he'd been shocked to receive the gift. The Hokage had explained that it may be needed in the coming war, and with both Minato and Kushina actively working in fuinjutsu, there was no one better to work on developing and utilizing the legendary ninja's jutsu.

Perhaps that technique is what he needed. The speed that it gave the user… It could change the entire tide of the war, as long as he could work out the seals...

* * *

The first time Minato's students went to visit his new home, they were welcomed in immediately. Of course, they had no idea their sensei had gotten hitched, thinking instead that he and Kushina had decided to move in together.

That was also when they met his spitfire of a daughter.

"Oh my goodness, she is so adorable!" Rin squealed when Takara walked up to them, an inquisitive look on her face. The girl dropped down to Takara's level in a flash, and stuck out a hand to introduce herself.

"Hello little one, I'm Rin!"

Takara took Rin's hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze.

"I'm Takara."

Rin nearly fainted from cuteness overload, and Takara began to scowl. She was never going to be intimidating, was she?

Minato stifled a laugh at the look on his daughter's face. For some reason she always hated it when people called her cute, but there was really no escaping it for her. Maybe it was just his parental fondness, but he thought Takara was the most adorable child he'd ever laid eyes on. There was of course the issue of her being just as beautiful and attracting suitors when she was older, but he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Both Obito and Kakashi had retreated to the couch, and the former was watching Rin interact with Takara while the latter attempted to maintain the "too cool for you" attitude he cloaked himself in. But Minato could spot the small signs of Kakashi's interest in his daughter as well.

"You're the most adorable thing ever!" Rin squealed. She lunged for a hug and Takara dodged under one arm quickly. The genin face-planted, not expecting the toddler to get out of her way.

"Not cute," Takara stated, placing her hands on her hips in defiance.

_Yeah, she's definitely going to be a mini-Kushina in terms of attitude,_  Minato thought, amused.

"Well team, seems like you've officially met my little girl. She's a trickster in the making, I tell you, so don't let her charming little looks deceive you."

Minato swept Takara up into his arms and began a tickle fight. Loud screeches of laughter could be heard throughout the apartment.

"Tou-san stop! Stop tou-san!" Takara bit out between her peals of laughter.

"Only if I get a hug from the princess. That's how you can defeat the dragon," Minato replied.

The girl huffed and pulled her father into a hug.

"Alright team, Kushina should be finishing up with dinner soon, so just hang out in here while I check on her," Minato said as he set Takara back down on the floor.

As Minato retreated to the kitchen, Takara took the moment to make her move. She'd seen Obito watching her while she interacted with Rin and her father, so perhaps he wouldn't be too hard to get to know. She brazenly stepped forward and moved herself in front of the young Uchiha.

"Hi, I'm Takara. Who are you?"

Obito's lips twitched, but he still fought to hold on to his "cool" look just like Kakashi.

"My name is Uchiha Obito. Nice to meet you Takara-chan," he replied stiffly, arms crossed in front of him.

Well, if he was going to be difficult, two could play at that game.

"You seem nice. Why are you trying to be cool?" Takara prodded.

"What do you mean? I'm not trying, I am cool!" Obito squeaked in indignation.

"Kaa-chan says trying to be cool is stupid."

Obito began to splutter. Stupid kids, just saying whatever they want to! She was going to make him look like an idiot in front of Rin!

A smirk began to form on Takara's face.

_Got you in a corner now._

The toddler and the genin locked eyes, beginning a staring contest. Kakashi just sighed at the absurdity of his foolish teammate staring down a child.

"Rin-chan! Kakashi-kun! Obito-kun! I have dinner ready!" Kushina's voice called from the kitchen and dining area.

Takara blinked first, and Obito took it as a sign of victory.

"Yes! Gotcha Takara-chan!" he cried, jumping up in joy. A small smirk crossed his face, but his eyes were lit with legitimate joy.

"You and I are gonna be friends!" Takara declared, grabbing the boy around his leg.

"Ack, no! Getoffgetoffgetoff!"

Obito started shaking his leg vigorously, trying to get the girl to let go. He flailed about, cursing the surprisingly strong grip the little girl had. Takara could only hold on for so long however, and flew off not long after, landing a foot or so away on her butt.

_Just you wait, Obito. I'm going to be so persistent that you'll have no choice but to become my friend. Maybe that bond will help keep you from going insane._

Minato just sighed and shook his head, a smile lighting up his face. He watched the whole thing from the doorway, and his daughter never stopped surprising and entertaining him.

_You should really just give in now, Obito. When Takara sets her mind to something, she'll pursue it until she succeeds._

* * *

A cloaked form dropped to one knee in front of Shimura Danzo. He'd been notified of a potential development with the jinchuriki and her family, which was a situation that he'd been keeping a close eye on for some time now.

"Report," he commanded.

"The wedding of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato was completed without issue. The family intends to live at the jinchuriki's current residence. They invited the Namikaze's genin team to dinner tonight, and the child seems to have taken to the outcast Uchiha. But that is not the particularly new development I mentioned," a monotone voice spoke.

"And what is this new information?"

"I believe that the child, Namikaze Takara, has begun to exhibit signs of attempted access to her chakra network. She will occasionally sequester herself in a corner away from her family, and though it is slight, there are bits of chakra that can be discerned emanating from the child."

"Intriguing. The fact that she hides herself speaks to the idea that her parents have no clue what she is doing…"

"That is my suspicion as well sir."

"I see. I'm expanding your parameters from observation of solely Uzumaki Kushina to observation of her child as well. I want reports of anything out of the ordinary from her."

"Understood sir."

The agent flashed away, leaving Danzo to his thoughts.

_This child could be a prodigy in the making. Her parents are already beginning to create reputations for themselves. Imagine what benefit she could be inducted into the program. I simply need a moment to extract the girl,_ Danzo mused. _Perhaps it's a good thing that she survived her birth…._

* * *

Namikaze Kaiyo mulled over a few things as she retreated to her home. Root members were rarely given a proper abode, but it was part of her cover assignment.

_If I'm not mistaken, the child has also picked up suspicion of who I am. But that should be impossible. I threw out that test to see if she could detect chakra in the area, but she seems to have connected it to me. That should be impossible… At least for a child her age…_

Kaiyo was a sensor in her own right - not exceptionally skilled, but it was one of her strong suits. It was part of the reason she'd been assigned to the Uzumaki's guard detail, and likely the reason she'd been chosen over her brother when Danzo had approached their orphanage. Perhaps the sensory techniques were a Namikaze family gene, as the report on her brother's life as a ninja mentioned that he'd used a similar skill at some point.

She'd been planning to reveal Takara's other abilities to Danzo as well, but had realized what kind of position it would put her in. Kaiyo's cover identity was specifically created so that she could get back into her brother's life easily after many years separate. For it to be breeched - and by a child, no less - would reflect badly on her abilities. It might even get her sent to reprogramming, and Kaiyo would do anything to avoid that.

_For now, I'll keep this to myself. But if she tells my brother… well, I'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen._

* * *

Seeing as Kushina had smugly held the fact that she had a cute kid over Mikoto's head for as long as possible, it was no surprise that the matriarch brought her own firstborn over to compete over who had the most adorable kid now that he was born. Kushina had to admit, the kid was cute, assuming you liked the dark-haired, dark-eyed, solemn type. Seriously, she didn't think she'd seen a smile out of Itachi the entire time he'd been at her house, and that was with her using her best baby-entertaining skills. All she got was a curious, pensive look.

"Maa, your kid looks far too interested for his own good. He's gonna be one of those stuck up smarty-pants in your clan, isn't he?" Kushina pestered after she stopped trying to coax a smile out of the Uchiha heir. She'd placed him on the blanket in the middle of the living room, and Takara was currently studying him intently.

Mikoto scoffed.

"You're one to talk. Takara-chan over there looks like she'd about to dissect him. And didn't you say she started walking and talking quite early?" the woman taunted back, keeping her tone light so that woman wouldn't take it as an insult.

"Fair enough. They look like they've been getting along pretty well though," Kushina said as she watched the children interact.

Takara poked Itachi's forehead slightly, which turned his attention to the girl.

_If I have anything to say about it, you're not going to grow into a child weapon, Itachi-san._

According to Sasuke, Itachi had been a closet pacifist, though the way he carried out his philosophy left a bit to be desired. Perhaps he was forced to take the blood-soaked path, but Takara couldn't help but wonder if there had ever been another way.

_Danzo's meddling made quite the impact here. I'll have to keep him from getting his grubby hands on you._

Takara grabbed a stuffed fox laying nearby, and began to play with Itachi. Moments like these, where there seemed to be not a care in the world, were few and far between. She had learned to savor them quickly during the war, but there was a relief and joy in being able to linger in moments of peace.

_If I weren't trying to save the world, I might agree with your pacifism, Itachi-san. But as it stands, I might have to spill some blood to stave off an angry goddess..._

**砂時計**

**Recommended Read:**  
Fancy Footwork by silver-footsteps  
Itachi/Sakura  
For Sakura, it wasn't about being cool. It wasn't about being famous. It wasn't even about the handsome college guys who hung out with her although that was an added bonus . It was the feel of the beat, the music and the adrenaline that consumed her. AU. Complete


	5. Quatrième

**砂時計**

_Quatrième: a classical ballet term meaning "fourth."_

**砂時計**

If she were a lesser woman, Takara might've given up on connecting with her chakra by now. The damn thing was flighty at best and an absolute menace at worst, always skipping right out of her grasp when she went for it. She was almost inclined to think that the chakra had a personality of its own, and if it did, it would definitely be laughing at her.

Takara had been trying for the better part of a year now to reach in to her chakra and harness it. She'd made small steps forward - originally she hadn't been able to reach the chakra pool at all - and had discovered her sensory abilities, but nothing beyond that. She honestly was beginning to wonder if she was going about the whole process wrong.

Ensconced in her mindscape, Takara sat with her feet dangling over her father's head. The normally calm skies of her inner plane were replaced with tumultuous grey clouds, though it was still perpetually sunset. It seemed that the weather responded to her mood, and she was definitely frustrated.

Takara raked her hands through her short orange hair. Apparently today was one of the days she appeared in her former body. Those days were becoming fewer and farther between, but they still popped out of nowhere occasionally. She'd also been getting closer to reaching her chakra recently, so perhaps there was something to that.

 _It's almost like my chakra rejects me if I'm wearing my old face,_  Takara realized. She'd noticed that on days when she appeared in her previous form, the chakra wouldn't even get near her. Originally it had been chalked up as a bad day, but maybe not.

Takara focused on her mental form, calling back the image of what she was like in the outside world. Well, maybe not as tiny. Having a three-year-old body was annoying enough in the real world, she didn't particularly want to keep that up in here. As Takara stared at her hands, they slowly lightened to the milky color of her current skin. Her hair lengthened and brightened to a red that matched her mother's, and her point of view began to shrink. Her legs retracted until they barely dangled over the stone sculpture of the Hokage Monument.

She stood up roughly, taking a moment to get used to the other form. It wasn't that the form was unfamiliar, but she'd never changed in the midst of a visit to her mindscape before. Moving a few feet from the monument so she wouldn't get tossed off if her chakra fought against her like it always did, Takara dropped into a meditation position. A few deep breaths and she was focused in on her chakra network. The breeze began to pick up in the clearing, progressing from a soft whisper to quite the strong force. Takara forced all of her focus towards her actions, and began reaching out to try and connect with the chakra. It fought slightly, but was much easier than it had been twenty minutes ago when she'd tried in her former body. Gritting her teeth, Takara pushed forward and made another grasp for the chakra.

It finally connected. Takara almost lost the hold on it from pure shock.

_Holy- what?! Is this even real?_

Her eyes fluttered open, and she felt the wind begin to curl around her, softening in the face of its new mistress. It settled back to the calming breeze it had been as her grip loosened.

The fact that she touched the chakra, held it even, was cause for celebration in and of itself. She'd had glancing blows and teasing moments where she thought she'd finally reached it before. But this, this was an actual success. The fact that she could actually harness the chakra opened so many doors. But it also created a bit of an issue. Children as young as she was generally didn't access chakra. She wasn't quite sure when Kakashi began showing signs of genius, but even he hadn't graduated the academy until two years older than she was now. She'd have to be careful how she used chakra, because her father was definitely a sensor, and with her own sensor abilities she was willing to bet it may be a family trait. Which brought up concerns of her aunt sensing just what she was up to. Now that she could access chakra, she'd have to begin working on a chakra barrier for her room to muffle her training efforts.

* * *

Kushina finally started dragging Takara out of the house with her on errands when she was at home. The young girl had proven herself capable of extended foot travel, at least enough to make it around the village, and Takara could probably cry tears of relief. She also had a bittersweet feeling that she could finally explore Konoha, but it was not the Konoha she remembered. It was better, that she'd agree with, whole instead of a collection of rubble in the ground. But it was really the people she'd missed, and now she had to chance to begin developing relationships with them again.

From what she could tell, she was going to have to wait a few years for her original yearmates to be born, but their older siblings had begun to exist. Itachi was proof of that fact, and perhaps she could surreptitiously 'get to know' a few of the other clan children her age so she'd have an excuse to interact with the younger ones when they arrived. It was a form of torture, waiting for them and knowing they might be different or maybe not even born at all, but she'd suffer it over and over again if it meant they were safe.

"C'mon Takara-chan! We've gotta get started, I have at least five million stores to get to today," her mother called from the front door.

Takara was pulling on her sandals quickly, before she trotted out to where her mother impatiently waited. To be fair though, she had gotten lost in thought and Kushina had probably been standing there for the last ten minutes. It was a surprise that the woman hadn't left yet, but she probably didn't want to terrify Takara by leaving the child alone and unable to find her.

Of course, as long as she was within a half a mile, Takara could sense her. Not that Kushina knew that.

"I'm coming kaa-san, I got distracted picking shoes," Takara supplied as an excuse for her delay.

"Just don't start going all prissy fashionista on me sweetheart, I'd have no idea how to help you at that point," Kushina teased.

The pair stepped out into the street and begun their walk towards the shopping district. True to her word, Kushina did have quite a few stops to make it to, though perhaps not 'five million'. They stopped at the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner, and Takara managed to convince her mother to add dango to the list for tonight as a sweet treat. Kushina's cooking was insanely amazing, and Takara vowed to learn all about it. She'd never really had the chance to eat or make homemade meals, especially towards the end when most of the forces were surviving on ration bars and quick meals thrown together hastily. Come to think of it, maybe she could start looking into a preservation seal for food, that way she didn't have to eat the disgusting rations on missions...

As Takara was surveying the soda cases, she felt a quick flash of heat. It was merely a blip on her radar, and she brushed it off without concern. Nothing around her was producing heat anyways, so Takara chalked it up to her imagination.

After the grocery store came the Yamanaka flower shop. Kushina was picking out some new flowers for the dining room table, and the visit also doubled as a chance to see Tsubaki. Honestly, for as much as the woman hated her outbursts and tried to control herself, she could still talk a mile a minute and carry on conversations forever. Get her and Ino's mom - who was just as bad as her future daughter about gossip and chit-chat - together and the two could literally talk for three hours straight.

Takara resigned herself to a long conversation, even if it was only a 'brief visit' and began to meander down the aisles. The colorful collection of different flowers was both lovely to look at and smelled great. In her past life she'd always shied away from strong scents, since with her enhanced smelling as Kurama's jinchuuriki they smelled way too floral, but since she was a regular human now, she could enjoy it finally.

A strange silt taste passed through her mouth suddenly, and the flower in front of her began smelling of an earthy scent. Just as soon as she tried to focus in on it, her senses returned to normal.

"That one's a good choice. Gardenias are one of my personal favorites," came a voice from behind Takara. She startled a bit, and turned to look at the newcomer.

A willowy blonde girl stood just to the side, dressed in an apron displaying the store logo. She extended a hand to pick up one of the flowers.

"These have such a lovely smell and I love how they look. I could probably decorate my whole house with them," she said as she studied the bloom. "Anything I can help you out with sweetheart? Where's your mom?"

Takara glanced quickly to where she was sure her mother and Tsubaki were still conversing at the checkout counter. The stranger must have caught her eye movement, because her own line of vision followed.

"Ah, you must be Kushina-san's daughter. She mentioned you'd be around here. Well, nice to meet you then. I'm Yamanaka Sumire."

The Yamanaka girl offered her hand, and Takara took it cautiously.

"Namikaze Takara."

"Let me guess, you decided to hang out and look around while Kushina-san and Tsubaki-sama go on and on? I don't blame you for trying to escape, they both have so many words to say!" Sumire replied. She returned the gardenia to its case and sat down next to Takara so she wouldn't keep looming over the girl.

"Pretty much. How do you know my mom?"

Takara didn't really recall the blonde girl from any of the times she'd been out with her mother. She also seemed like she was a newly minted ninja, genin most likely. Maybe chunin, given how Takara knew the Third Great Shinobi War was on the horizon, which crossed off the chance of her working with her jonin mother.

"I've seen her around when she visits Tsubaki-sama. I'm the daughter of Inoichi-sama's brother, so I'm around the main family often enough. I also work here in the shop when I'm not on missions, so I've met Kushina-san from time to time," Sumire provided.

Takara was just about to sit next to the pre-teen when her mother called from the entrance.

"Takara-chan! Time to get going honey, I've got a few more places to make it to before dinner!"

"Ah, that'll be your summons. It was nice talking to you, you'll have to come see me another time when we can hang out more," Sumire said, shuffling to her feet. She led Takara through the maze of displays up to the front of the flower shop, waving goodbye to the mother and daughter pair as they went.

"Sorry honey, I kinda got carried away catching up with Tsubaki. You didn't mind, did you?" Kushina asked as they made their way towards the next stop.

"Not really. Sumire-san is nice," Takara replied.

A warm feeling coiled in Takara's chest. She'd actually made a friend for the first time in her new life. She hadn't been certain that she'd be able to do so. The old scars she'd spent a long time healing threatened to act up, her mind rebelling against the idea of becoming friends with someone who was not Ino or Sakura or Hinata. It ached her to think of them as just out of her grasp for the time being, but she couldn't cut herself off forever. Takara fed off the companionship and camaraderie of others, she'd never survive on her own. Not really.

_Yamanaka Sumire… I'm glad to make your acquaintance._

* * *

It was about time she finally got to work with seals, Takara mused. Four years in and she'd just barely scratched the surface of her abilities. She could draw seals and theorize all day long in her mind, but her physical skills were sorely lacking. She'd put herself through rows and rows of penmanship practice to pass time before she could access chakra, because when one was working with sealing, it was perfection or nothing. The delicacies of the art were part of what made it so strong. Draw one line wrong and you could end up unintentionally blowing off your arm when you really just meant to create a transportation seal.

She'd worked her fingers to the bone preparing for the seal work, and now she was finally getting the chance to use it. The very first seal that Takara was planning was fairly simple. It was a simple ink-based seal painted onto her bedroom floor. The seal was meant to put up a sound barrier, so her parents wouldn't be able to hear her night terrors. She'd gotten better at concealing them, but there was still the occasional time where she couldn't contain herself and it brought her mother running in. Well, if she was even home at all, but that was an issue she really didn't want to deal with at the moment.

The seal itself was not very difficult, as it only dealt with masking one specific sense. There were seals that could make someone practically invisible (Takara had used them fairly often to sneak behind enemy lines in the war to deliver a crushing attack) but they were extremely complicated and would definitely raise some eyebrows. As it stood, if someone discovered the seal on her floor, they really couldn't find much fault. Takara had taken care to be seen reading fuinjutsu books and had left a few in her room on occasion to prompt her parents into realizing she was a curious and bright child. The sound barrier was one of the lowest tiers of seals with the least amount of components, allowing Takara the perfect opportunity to test out her sealing skills.

The spot she had chosen was easily covered by her rug, and she knew for a fact that Kushina didn't look too far into her room and left it be unless she let it get out of hand. If she had really wanted to hide it, Takara could've drawn it in chakra ink, but then there would be questions of how she knew what it was and how she poached it from her parents' stash, among others. She would also have to change the seal to accommodate the different medium, so Takara simply stuck with the basics.

Kaiyo was supposed to be watching her, but recently Takara had noticed that the woman had backed off on her fanatical mother-henning. She no longer hovered over the child, rather taking to spending time in the living room and only disturbing Takara if it was time for meals or they were going somewhere. The ANBU who normally hung around her house were also conveniently absent since her mother was not home, so Takara had no worries about being interrupted.

Takara dipped her brush into the small well of ink she'd liberated from her father's room, and began the drawing process. Each line built upon the others, twists and marks slowly making up the form of the complete seal. The order and direction used when drawing the seal was also important, as it controlled how the chakra flowed throughout the piece. It took about an hour to build, but Takara was fairly satisfied with the end result. For someone with no muscle memory to assist in the speed of creation, an hour wasn't bad. Of course, when stacked up against her past abilities - like the time she drew a short range transport seal in the midst of battle and slapped it on Sai in time to dodge a particularly heinous jutsu - her current abilities were terrible, but that was a thought for another day.

Pushing the rug over her newly-dried seal, Takara made her way back to the living room where her aunt was. She spent the rest of the evening playing and acting her best four-year-old impression in order to try and shake some suspicion if her aunt had any.

* * *

Peace was a fragile thing. For those who fought in the prior war, they had never truly settled. They knew it was fleeting, and could be crushed at any moment. One day, Konoha was quiet, if a bit tense.

The next, all hell broke loose.

Takara supposed she shouldn't be surprised. She'd overheard her mother and father talking about the border skirmishes and how they were getting out of hand. It was only a matter of time before it devolved into full-blown war. She'd hoped they wouldn't be pulled in to the fighting, since her mother was only a chunin and her father a newly-minted jonin, but she supposed it couldn't be helped. This was the same war that saw a ten-year-old Kakashi fighting on the frontlines, after all.

It was also the war that labelled both of her parents dangerous, and drew some rather unsavory attention.

Since they now had a young daughter, Takara worried that things would be changed. Would they fight to stay alive and return home to protect her rather than jumping onto the front lines and making their mark? Would her father still go on to improve on the Nidaime's Hiraishin and garner his "Yellow Flash" moniker?

Would they still come out alive?

Takara could do nothing but hope, in all honesty, as she was locked down with her aunt during any times that her parents were out. Sometimes she barely even saw them for a full day before they were back out on the field again, haunted eyes betraying their war weariness even this early on in the fighting. Weeks passed and her mother received a field promotion, not that it was particularly surprising. Certain abilities like her chakra chains and the status as a jinchuuriki meant that she had easily progressed to jonin material. Honestly, Takara was slightly surprised she hadn't been one before, but that was probably because she'd be caught up with Takara and hadn't taken the exams.

While she was sequestered at home, Takara began dredging up her old plans for two specific jutsu - the advanced clone and a new storage seal. She'd finally found the perfect medium for her clone, and would also need to work with the ideas for the different type of storage seal in order to get it up and running.

"Dammit, just work already!" Takara whined, watching as the small collection of blood remained motionless in the bowl before her.

She'd chosen blood as her clone medium for its chakra conduction properties and also the slightly terrifying sight when it dispelled, but needed to work on the multiplication properties. She couldn't exactly drain enough blood to form the entire clone every time she made one, so she'd been working on stimulating a small bit she could collect into expanding with her chakra. Takara had done it barely once, but had not gotten it to more than an ounce yet. But seeing as the ounce came from only a few drops of blood, that was still a step in the right direction.

_What am I not doing right? There has to be a step I'm missing._

She turned back to the notes she'd been keeping, reading over each detail for the fourth time that evening. Takara had been trying to stimulate blood production before she moved on to forming it and sealing it into bunshin form, but maybe she was going about it the wrong way.

_If I set up a chakra mold for it to form with first, maybe I could build a chakra circulatory network in to do the multiplying of the blood for me…_

Takara brought some chakra to her hands and tried to begin forming it into a certain shape. It took her at least half and hour, and by the end it only barely resembled the triangle she'd been attempting.

_Guess I'm in need of more chakra control training. I'm probably going to accidentally drown myself._

* * *

Despite the fact that he was probably one of the more influential shinobi Konoha had to offer, Minato really didn't enjoy being sent away on missions. His skill set was certainly useful, even turning the tide of the war some could say. But all Minato could think about when he was away was Kushina and Takara.

Winning this war meant keeping them safe, that's how he justified his presence on the frontlines. That was the entire reason he'd developed on Hiraishin after all, to bring the war to an end sooner. As a shinobi, his duty to the village and the Hokage came first, but it was difficult when he had a four-year-old to think about. His thoughts bordered on treasonous, he knew, but that didn't stop him from thinking them.

Currently, his squad was stationed on the border with Yu no Kuni. There had been intelligence indicating that some of Kumo's strongest were there, wreaking havoc with the forces, so Sarutobi had sent out Minato to counter. So far they'd seen no signs of said shinobi, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

As they passed through the forest on patrol, a small itch at the back of Minato's head kept bugging him. There was something, or someone, in the area, he was sure of it, but he couldn't tell where. It was infuriating, especially as a sensor, to not know what was bugging him. He focused in further, widening the range of his sensory ability. At the far reaches of his scope, he detected a few flickers of chakra.

"There's something up ahead," he murmured to his Inuzuka companion.

"Can you tell who?" the man responded.

Minato pressed further in on the signatures.

"They're concealing their presence well, the only thing I can make out is that one of them has a dual-signature," Minato replied.

_The dual signature doesn't feel that far off from Kushina and the Kyuubi, actually. What are the odds Kumo brought one of their jinchuuriki out to play?_

"Orders?" another of his teammates questioned.

"Continue. I think we've found the people we're on the lookout for," Minato said.

The group's chatter dropped silent, each preparing for the upcoming assault. Minato fingered one of the Hiraishin kunai in his pack.

_I haven't tested this against a jinchuuriki yet, but hopefully my presence will be enough to keep them out of Yu no Kuni and away from our borders._

They approached the group quickly, dropping silently into the clearing. There were several Kumo nin prepared for a fight, and Minato recognized at least two.

_Hm. That's definitely the jinchuuriki signature I felt, so it must be Killer Bee. That makes the man in front A, one of Kumo's top fighters and a candidate for the next Raikage, not to mention the son of the current one._

"So you're the shinobi that interrupted the Kyuubi kidnap mission single-handedly," A said by way of greeting.

Honestly, Minato shouldn't be surprised they'd kept records on that mission from years ago. Trying to kidnap a jinchuuriki was risky in general, all of the villages tried to keep close watch on them. The only ones he knew of that weren't housed in a village were Iwa's, and it was because of that fact that Kushina hadn't been called on as much yet. If the others weren't bringing out their bijuu, the Sandaime didn't want to tempt them by throwing Kushina into the fray. She hadn't been restricted to the village, per say, but was kept close by at the very least.

"And you're the son of the Sandaime Raikage. You're rumored to be quite fast yourself," Minato replied.

"If my brother and I work together, we can take you, you fool," Killer Bee called, apparently choosing to speak in rap. That was going to get irritating if Minato was going to fight the group.

_Well, if we're going into a speed match, I'd better be prepared._

"Nobody move," Minato called to the others. He slipped a hand into his pack, palming a collection of his kunai. He scattered them across the clearing at various intervals. "I'll handle this."

"Confident words, Namikaze," A taunted. The sound of crackling lightning filled the air, and a shroud of nature chakra covered the man. He darted forward, intent of being the first to land a hit.

 _Nice try, but not good enough,_ Minato thought. He flipped a kunai into the air beside them, and teleported to one of the others. He barely let his feet hit the bark on the tree before jumping back to the kunai beside A. _Got you._

Just as Minato was about to slice into the Kumo nin, a large tentacle interrupted, taking the hit instead.

_That would be the jinchuuriki._

Minato focused chakra to his hand and etched a well-remembered seal. If he could get close enough, Minato had a habit of tagging his opponents. Made it very hard to outrun someone who could teleport to you instantly. A took this moment to jump back beside Killer Bee.

"My bad, Bee. You okay?" A asked. The jinchuuriki was breathing slightly hard, perhaps not used to that speed of battle.

_If I can overwhelm him, we won't have to worry about Killer Bee using his bijuu for backup. But how to get around A first? He's nearly matched me._

A shrill whistle sounded through the air.

_So soon? Something important must have come up._

"That's the retreat signal! Minato, we've got to fall back for now!" the Inuzuka called to the others. They jumped up into the trees to prepare for the return.

"That was nothing. Learn it by rote, I'm Killer Bee and the Hachibi's my high note!" Killer Bee rapped, apparently not as winded as Minato may have thought. He glanced at the group of Kumo nin.

"Your valor is most impressive," Minato admitted. "Not as the Hachibi jinchuuriki, but as a shinobi, you possess something very powerful."

"If you're talking talent, he's even better than me," A boasted.

Apparently this had turned into a show of skill rather than the fight is was meant to be. But as long as they got the point across, Minato didn't care either way. He couldn't help but respect the Hachibi container, however, because he knew how hard is was to be the human sacrifice. He'd seen the tense life Kushina lead, after all.

"No, that's not it. He's already got something more important than that," Minato replied. "You have good family and friends. I do, too." Kushina and Takara crossed through his mind, as does the conversation he had with Sarutobi before leaving. "Either way, next time we meet, we'll probably both be Kage. If you don't realize what's important to your brother soon, you'll lose him both as a jinchuuriki and a person."

"You can try and confuse us with all your talk, but I won't let you get away," A shouted. He activated his lightning release cloak again, charging towards Minato.

"I have my own people to protect," Minato murmured. He pulled another kunai and jumped to the mark on Killer Bee's tentacle. He paused before attacking, as Bee had a dagger aimed at him as well.

"I won't fail," Minato said.

"Ready to die together? I am. Got my dagger all prepared to jam," Killer Bee told him.

"You're my enemy, but I do like you. You truly move like a shinobi," Minato replied.

He teleported back to one of the farthest kunai.

"We'll meet again A," Minato called, forming a handseal. The Hiraishin kunai puffed out of existence, recalled to the seal in his pack. He vaulted back into the trees, pushing himself to gain back the ground that he'd lost staying behind from his team.

* * *

Honestly, Obito wasn't quite sure when Minato's pint-sized little girl grew on him. She never failed to attach herself to his side whenever the team came over for a meeting or pre-mission briefing, and Rin often despaired over the fact that she'd picked the Uchiha as her favorite of the group. That's not to say that Takara didn't spend time with the other two teammates, but she orbited around Obito for the most part.

The first time Takara showed up with Kushina to a team practice, Obito was honestly afraid things might get out of hand and that she would get hurt. Of course, that thought was immediately followed with the idea that Minato, who was slowly gaining a legendary reputation of his own, would never do anything to endanger his child. Plus Kushina was there, so there was nothing to worry about.

"Obito! You need to focus more on planning instead of charging directly into a fight! If you jump in headlong, you lose the opportunity to evaluate and gain the upper hand, which is crucial in a fight, especially now," Minato was saying.

"Sorry Minato-sensei, I just wanted to show off my new taijutsu moves," Obito replied, rubbing the back of his head. A small blush decorated his cheeks, but he turned away to hide evidence of it.

"Showing off will get you nowhere, idiot," Kakashi replied.

Honestly, the kid was starting to frustrate him far too much. At least Obito was actually trying to be part of the team. Kakashi usually looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Alright you munchkins, I think it's time for lunch!" Kushina called, waving her picnic basket in the air excitedly. "I even made yakitori today!"

"No ramen Kushina-san? I'm surprised that you could go one whole meal without it," Obito teased, taking his place beside the redhead. As usual, Takara found her way beside him and grabbed one of the skewers for her own plate.

"Fear not, I had some ramen just before I came. Couldn't resist," Kushina chuckled, sitting back to let the others enjoy the food.

"Wonderful as usual Kushina-san! Are you sure you didn't miss your calling as a chef?" Rin complimented as she nibbled on her food.

"Maybe if I wasn't a kunoichi, but that's far more my calling, Rin-chan," Kushina replied, ruffling the girl's hair.

"Finish up quickly my little students. I have a slightly more restful activity planned next so that you can digest your meal," Minato said. "We're going to be practicing some chakra control exercises. You aren't too bad at it so far, but improved chakra control can only help in the long run. It lets you use less chakra to achieve the same effect, and can even help you expand your reserves if you push them hard enough."

"Alright! Let's get to it then!" Obito exclaimed, quickly stuffing the rest of the food into his mouth.

Anything that could improve his skills excited him. Perhaps if he got strong enough, he'd finally be more than the 'black sheep' of the Uchiha. He wasn't even sure what he'd done to deserve it, honestly. Sure, he hadn't activated his Sharingan yet, but plenty of Uchiha only did so once they became chunin or somewhere around that time.

"Well, since you're so interested, why don't you get started first, Obito," Minato supplied. He pointed to a nice, sturdy looking tree not far from the group. "I want to see how far you can walk up the tree. I'm sure you've been told or trained on tree walking, but I want to know how far you can get. If you do well, I'll move you on to the next stage."

"Please, I can get to the top in no time!" Obito boasted. He began concentrating chakra into the bottoms of his feet, and took a few test steps to judge the amount of chakra he'd need. The first few steps were easy enough, and he began a slow ascent along the trunk. He faltered a few times, but made it to the lower branches quickly.

"See, told you! Easy!"

From the higher viewpoint, Obito took a second to watch the group below. They'd returned to eating so they could finish up and join Obito for the training. Takara had stood up and come to the bottom of the tree next to the one that Obito was climbing without anyone noticing. Well, they'd probably noticed to be honest, but she was still within view so they didn't seem particularly worried. Obito gathered chakra again and began walking up the tree. He was more steady now, falling back into the habits of his prior tree walking experience. He was almost halfway up the tree when he looked back down briefly.

And proceeded to lose all focus and drop to the ground in shock.

"Obito!" Rin cried, jumping up to make sure he was okay. "What happened?"

Obito rubbed the tender spot on his head that was probably going to be a lump later on. He turned his focus to the tree next to him and the kid who had caused his fall in the first place. She was standing on the trunk of the tree, a foot off the ground. When Takara noticed that he was looking at her, she cut off the flow and dropped onto the ground in a kneel.

"Takara- she- she-!" Obito couldn't get all of the words out of his mouth, and made quite the spectacular impression of an intoxicated walrus flailing about.

"What about Takara?" Kushina asked, concern coloring her voice. She'd come over to check on the both of them, and seeing the Rin had Obito, moved on to Takara.

"She was just tree walking!" Obito exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the girl. Said child pulled the "I'm so innocent, there's no way that's true" face that Obito had seen on her multiple times before, mostly when she was hiding something from her parents.

"I find that hard to believe," Kushina replied as she pulled Takara up into her arms. "I haven't even seen her access chakra, there's no way that she could focus it enough to do chakra control exercises."

"But- but- I saw her do it!"

Kushina just shook her head.

"You're probably seeing stars from that fall kiddo. Try not to knock too many of your brain cells out, okay? You're pretty cute and I like your face in one piece or Minato would probably get in trouble," she teased.

Obito knew that his face was likely crimson, and he tried to force it back to normal. He caught sight of Takara as Kushina walked away, and the four-year-old smirked at him. Smirked! That girl was starting to take far too much after her trickster mother.

_We're all screwed once those two start working together, aren't we?_

* * *

It was purely by chance that Kushina realized something was off. She'd been tinkering with the house's seals and making sure that everything was in proper working order when she noticed a small seal connected to the main array. Normally it wouldn't have bugged her, but she traced the chakra connection to her daughter's room, and since "mama bear" would be an understatement of Kushina's character when it came to her daughter, her overprotective instincts went wild. If someone had the gall to try and keep a seal hidden in her daughter's room, if it was a danger to the girl, they'd better be prepared.

Takara was playing in the living room when she went to go check. While Kushina certainly wasn't a sensor like her husband, she did have enough of a mastery in seals to locate connecting matrices. This one was barely perceptible - the connection was more akin to a strand of hair than most. It was traced to just beneath the small rug that lay in the middle of the room, and when Kushina flipped over the rug, she didn't know whether to be relieved or even more on edge. There lay a perfect sound suppression seal, clearly drawn with effort and attention to detail. The fact that it was benign was a good sign, but since Kushina was fairly confident in her seals' ability to register those who passed in and out of the premises, that narrowed down the list of people who had the opportunity to get in here and place the array.

The seal itself was beginner level, so anyone with knowledge of sealing could've drawn it. There were no distinctive marks - some who were versed in the sealing arts liked to leave a 'signature' etched into the seal at times - and the ink was run of the mill carbon-based sealing ink, though for this type of seal they really should've used a clay variant.

_Perhaps Obito wasn't that far off when he accused Takara of trying to tree walk last week._

Kushina straightened from where she'd been crouching by the seal, and sat down on her daughter's bed.

"Takara?" she called into the other room. "Could you come here for a moment?"

She heard the rustle of toys being put away. The pitter-patter of tiny feet headed her direction, and a small head of red hair peeked around the corner.

"Yes Kaa-san?" Takara asked, eyes inquisitive.

It only took the girl a moment to realize what her mother had uncovered, and resignation passed through her eyes before it was shoved to the back, a mask of innocence taking its place.

"Would you like to tell me what this is?" Kushina asked, looking pointedly at the uncovered seal.

Takara bit her lip, and Kushina could practically see the mental battle waging within her mind. Why she felt the need to conceal her work from her parents was concerning. What could keep her from telling them?

"It's a...seal," Takara said slowly, shuffling fully into the room while dragging her feet. She kicked the floor absentmindedly and kept her vision trained on the planks of the wooden floor.

"Yes it is. I'm sure you can tell me how it got there, can't you?"

Another moment of silence, indecision. Clearly Takara hadn't planned on her mother finding out about this, but Kushina couldn't say she was entirely unsurprised. She had walked into the living room yesterday to see her baby girl asleep on the couch, clutching A Beginner's Guide to Sealing that she'd likely been reading. The fact that Takara was showing such advanced knowledge and learning so early though… Kushina wasn't quite sure she wanted Takara to become one of those heralded "child geniuses". Minato was one, and though he always told her it was fine, she could still see that he wished he could've been a kid for just a tiny bit longer. He had grown up during the Second War though, and if the way the war was looking to be a long, drawn-out one, Kushina's little girl may be pulled into the fighting sooner than she'd hoped.

"I- I drew it," Takara finally replied after a long pause.

Kushina moved to sit in front of the tiny girl.

"Sweetheart, I know you've been learning how to make seals and all, but you can't just go around using them left and right. You never know what could happen if you build it wrong," Kushina cautioned.

"I know, I know, I've read all about it kaa-san. But I'm careful, I've been practicing call- callid-

"Calligraphy."

"Calligraphy and everything before I even touched the seal!"

Takara's arms flailed and her eyes widened as she tried to convince her mother that everything was fine. Kushina allowed a small smile on her lips - she couldn't help it, she was proud that her daughter was interested in sealing, though starting to learn this early may still cause problems.

"I'm not mad at you sweetheart. I just don't want you to get hurt. I'm glad you picked something simple to start with, but you've got to be cautious. Swear to me you won't practice anymore until you father and I look over your work, okay?" Kushina replied, fixing Takara with her "don't you dare think about disobeying me" stare.

"Fine, fine," Takara conceded.

Kushina pulled her little girl closer, tucking her into an embrace.

"It's not that I don't want you to progress, my little pearl. I just-" Kushina cut herself off with a sigh. "There's people who would do bad things and might take you away if they knew what you could do. You know too much for your age honey."

"I'll be okay kaa-san. You don't need to worry about me," Takara said, trying to lift her mother's spirits.

Kushina's lips quirked.

"I still will, but you're definitely not allowed to touch explosive seals until you're twenty."

"But I'm gonna be a kunoichi before I'm twenty!" Takara told her, indignant.

"I'm your mom, kiddo. I make the rules."

Takara developed a gleam in her eye.

"Will you change your mind if I wrestle you and win?"

"I'd like to see you try."

Her daughter's response was a battle cry and attempt to sneak attack Kushina. It might've worked on someone unsuspecting, but despite the battlefield promotion, she wasn't a jonin for nothing.

**砂時計**

**Recommended Read:**  
Crimson Dreams by BelleDayNight  
_Itachi/Sakura_  
Sakura is being haunted by the ghost of Itachi Uchiha. Her duties at the hospital have been interrupted for a solo mission to either recruit or end Sasuke in order to protect both Naruto and Konoha. Success hinges on the aid of a dead man haunting her dreams, getting over her old crush, righting the wrongs of years past, and smashing things along the way. In-progress.


	6. En Avant

**砂時計**

_En Avant: refers to the direction of the execution for a step, specifically moving forward or to the front._

**砂時計**

It wasn't like Minato and Kushina were blind to the signs. Their daughter was far too smart, too intuitive, and too curious for both her own age and her own good. Being children of war themselves, they knew exactly what she was about to get pulled in to, and were trying to do everything possible to make sure that didn't happen.

"I mean, honestly Minato. Seals, already? She's only four, goddammit. They'll take her and make her a weapon and I won't be able to protect her anymore," Kushina railed, burying her face in her hands and she sat on the edge of her bed.

Minato paced the room softly, a frown marring his usually cheerful features. He'd noticed it as well, and being a child genius himself he knew exactly what Takara would be in for. He turned to his wife and sat down at her side, reaching out a hand to rub her back.

"We're only 21 years old, a jinchuriki jonin who never gets let off her leash and a jonin growing much more infamous as the war drags on. We have no clan to back us up, no political clout to bargain with. If they come for her, she has to go…" Kushina told him.

Silence stretched between the two parents momentarily, each mired in their thoughts of the future for their baby girl.

"From what I've seen of her, Takara is a fighter. She wouldn't just let them walk all over her. Would she have to go? Yes, especially since we're in a time of war. If it were peacetime, we might've gotten out of it. But not now, not when they're sending all available bodies to the frontlines. But I swear to you Kushina, she will not be cannon fodder. She will not be another unprepared genin sent to her death just because we're running low on manpower. She will be exceptional," Minato said firmly.

A single tear slipped past Kushina's facade of strength, and she clutched Minato's shirt desperately.

"I'll hold you to that, dattebane," she mumbled, brushing the stray tear from her cheek. "Takara, you are going to kick ass whether you want to or not."

Minato studied Kushina as she pulled herself back together, spine of steel slipping into place as it always did.

_If I ever make it to a position of power, there will be changes. Children should never be sent off to battle before they even make it to double-digits._

* * *

The promotions that came for Team Minato were nothing fancy. It was war, there was no time for pomp and circumstance. Kakashi had been promoted to chunin quickly, and was now at a point that he qualified for jonin. The fighting had worsened, so there was no way for even the original team to get together and celebrate.

Takara decided to write short letters to the group instead. She occasionally wrote to her father and mother when they were out on the frontlines, but had never written to her father's students. She also sealed a few items into the scrolls with a standard containment seal - not her new one, which, annoyingly, wasn't anywhere close to being done yet. Apparently manipulating space and reality in order to layer several pocket dimensions on top of each other was a little bit difficult. But Takara was nothing if not stubborn. She did have to give credit to the creator of the storage seal though. Altering pocket dimensions and modifying an existing seal was hard enough. Doing it workout any reference point at all? That must have felt impossible.

For Rin, she included some healing salves and creams, things she'd put together with her aunt in their spare time. Well, it was mostly Takara picking whatever Kaiyo told her to and Kaiyo doing the actual making, but it was the thought that counted. Since Kakashi was currently an unfeeling bastard (though not as bad as directly after her parents' deaths, apparently), Takara wasn't entirely sure what to give him. She settled on some treats for his dogs, perhaps winning them over would help her carve out a spot in his frosty heart.

Obito though, Takara gave him something a little more important. She'd been tweaking with her food preservation seals recently and had finally figured out how to make them work. She had done a victory dance that she'd deny to her dying day once she figured it out, because that meant no more horrific ration bars on missions if she could help it. She sealed some of her favorite dish - ramen, naturally - and Obito's own favorite - Takoyaki, discovered through some rather talented conversation maneuvers, if Takara did say so herself - into the scroll and hoped it'd make him smile, even just a bit.

Okay, so she may be showing favoritism. But honestly, if it was either save the world or be fair to everyone, there was really no choice. The smallest actions had the biggest consequences, after all. Ideally, Takara would be able to keep Obito from going off the deep end. However, Takara had been there herself many times over, most notably when Sasuke was murdered in front of her, but she tried not to think about that. There was a chance of coming back, but it wasn't without scars. Her night terrors were just the tip of the iceberg. But at least she'd know what to do if it got to that point. She could even commiserate. After all, insanity was always better with company.

* * *

The Third Shinobi World War had quickly become a war of attrition. No side was truly gaining ground, instead everyone was sending off shinobi simply to perish and prolong the battle. The leadership refused to budge, entrenched in blood and conflict.

Takara was truly disgusted by it all.

Fighting a war for something you believe in, whether it was to protect your home or to take back what was rightfully yours to begin with, is one thing. But to keep fighting simply because you don't want someone else to win? Shameless. Younger and younger children were being sent into the fray, and Takara knew enough about war, had lived it for long enough in this life and her past, to know that many of them wouldn't come home in more than a pine box. That is, if there was enough of them to fit in a box to begin with.

Her parents had noticed, which Takara had honestly expected at some point. It was worth the trade off though, in her opinion. She may have the knowledge of a battle-hardened kage, but she was still physically a child, and some things she couldn't work on by herself and get away with. She'd shown Obito her knowledge of tree walking in hopes that it would keep him interested in his sensei's genius daughter. If she presented him with a puzzle, a relationship to work on, Takara was hoping it would help him build stronger anchors to more than just Rin. Even if she didn't manage to save both of them, even if Obito was kidnapped and Rin murdered, perhaps another girl he cared for nearly as much as Rin could keep him from losing his mind.

Takara was playing with fire though. One wrong move and she could end up scorched, her situation burned beyond repair. There was also the Danzo factor to worry about. He always did like keeping tabs on the geniuses. Perhaps with her parents teaching her she could begin to leverage her knowledge.

Minato and Kushina had taken to slowly training her when they were home. Granted, they didn't exactly come out and say it was training, but Takara could tell what it was. Parents didn't normally challenge their five-year-olds to a "race" (laps) around the park multiple times a week, nor did they suppress their signatures while playing hide n' seek to work on her detection skills (she had an unfair advantage there, as they still had no idea about her sensory capabilities as far as she could tell). Takara wasn't entirely sure whether to call them on it or not, but in the end the benefits outweighed the negatives of enlightening them about her intellect.

"I can feel you Kaa-chan," Takara stated one morning as Kushina was attempting to sneak into the room. Granted, the woman wasn't using all of the stealth training she had under her belt as a jonin, but she was employing some. Enough that a normal five-year-old would have no clue her mother was near.

"Can you now," Kushina prompted, entering the room and giving up her attempt at concealment.

"It's not like you and Tou-chan are that sneaky," Takara said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I can tell training when I see it."

She moved over to the dresser, pulling out a purple skirt, black shorts for underneath, and a white shirt with was was evidently her father's clan symbol on it. She'd been surprised to know there was one, as she'd always thought the Namikaze a singular family rather than a clan, but Minato had explained that there had originally been a few families. They'd been a wandering clan back in the time of the wars, sticking to a nomadic way of life to stay away from conflict. That had served them fairly well, especially with their sensing skills, until the Second Great Ninja War. That was the war that took the lives of the other families, and Minato and his sister were the only two to survive. Her father kept whatever records he could find, which weren't much, as well as his clan crest. Even if the clan never grew again, he wanted it preserved for history.

The symbol itself was a circle containing three curls. Takara assumed it was meant to imitate waves, but she really couldn't be certain.

"So if you realized what we're doing, why haven't you said something earlier, Takara-chan?" her mother asked from the doorway she was leaning on. Takara could recognize a probing question when she heard one.

"War is happening, Kaa-chan. I'd have to be blind not to see that. I'm sure you're afraid I'll be forced into fighting, so I didn't want to worry you."

Takara changed her sleeping clothes to the ones she'd chosen for the day, and turned to face her mother. The woman's mouth was set in a grim line, and it seemed Takara had hit the nail on the head with her analysis.

"It may be better for you to be prepared, sweetheart. Your tou-chan and I have been thinking about giving you more to work with. Would you like that?" Kushina questioned. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Takara barely let a moment slip by before answering.

"Of course, Kaa-chan. Teach me  _everything_."

* * *

When Takara told her mother to teach her everything, she hadn't expected that much of a difference in training methods from what they'd already been employing. Maybe a few more laps, some handsign practice, but nothing major.

She'd been quite far from the truth.

The very first day Kushina had available for official training, the pair had headed to one of the more secluded grounds. She'd then gone on to promptly sneak attack Takara, setting her on the defensive.

"I need to know how much you've taught yourself my love. Come at me with all you've got," Kushina taunted, a trickster's grin spreading across her lips.

"Okay Kaa-chan. I'll do what I can."

Takara jumped back, intent on putting space between her and her opponent. In all honesty, she hadn't spent much time forming actual jutsus, instead working on control and creating her clone. She'd been doing some exercises as well, but not as much as she should have.

_Damn, I have got to stop being so single-minded. When this is over, I'm doubling my usual exercise and working on as many jutsus as this tiny body can handle without overtaxing myself._

"Too slow baby girl," her mother crowed, darting forward.

A flash of metal caught the light, and Takara dodged to the side before the kunai could strike. A few handsigns and a puff of smoke covered Takara's shunshin. She was about ten feet off where she was aiming for, but it was out of her mother's striking path, so she'd take it. She could work on accuracy later. Takara focused a small bit of chakra to her feet and jumped onto the tree nearest to her. A few more handsigns and a standard Academy clone peeled off to the side.

 _I never thought I'd see the day that I was actually_ thankful _for those damn clones. I miss my shadow clones already._

Takara hopped over a few trees and climbed as high as she could get.

_Time to practice that concealment skills. I'd have to be extremely lucky for her not to notice me._

She dropped into a meditation pose and pulled at her chakra.

_What did Karin used to compare this to? Something about compression, I think…_

Takara visualized her chakra, and began focusing on condensing it into a tiny sliver of what it was. The act itself wasn't hard, but that was probably because she'd used up a fair amount of chakra already with the few jutsu she'd done.

_I have utterly terrible reserves. I'm an Uzumaki, goddamn it. I should have so much more! Am I taking more after Tou-chan this time?_

"Found you Takara-chan," a voice murmured in her ear.

A cry escaped her lips and she almost startled off the branch, but Kushina's hand caught the collar of her shirt before she could.

"Don't fall to your death now baby girl. Can't have your dad killing me after the first day of training," her mother teased.

"I give up, you got me. Tell me I tricked you for at least a second with the clone?"

"Mm, maybe a second, two if I'm generous. What I would like to know though is how you figured this all out on your own."

Leaves whirled around them and Kushina deposited the pair on the forest floor. Takara moved to sit up against the tree she'd been on.

"I wanted to know what I was gonna do in the Academy, so I looked up the basic requirements. The jutsu aren't too hard, I just suck because I don't have much chakra," Takara replied. "I'm still working on kawarimi though. Haven't tested it much yet."

Kushina sat down next to the girl, and pulled out a kunai from her pouch.

"Not bad honey. How's your kunai and shuriken skills?"

Takara took the offered weapon, and pointed to a tree across the way. There was a patch of moss halfway up the trunk that she chose to mark the spot. Shuffling to her feet, Takara slipped into the proper throwing stance and hurled the blade. It hit the edge of the patch, not bad but certainly could use improvement.

"Well, now that I've seen what you can do so far, I think I know where to start with you. It looks like you'll need some stamina and chakra reserve building techniques. You could do with some polishing on your jutsu as well, but your hand signs were lovely Takara-chan. Have you been practicing?"

"Yeah. I figured that if I could do the basics well enough and without thinking, I could only go up from there."

"That's a good sentiment. Most people learn the basics and then move on, never taking time to practice them," Kushina replied.

_If only you knew, Kaa-chan. That's exactly what I did the first time around, and why I'm focusing on it more this time._

"I've been working on my handwriting too, for fuinjutsu. I read that it's the most important part of sealing," Takara told her mother.

Kushina reached out a hand and ruffled her daughter's hair. A frown slipped onto Takara's face as she tried to bat away the offending appendage, but failed in the process.

"Good idea honey. You're well on your way to a solid foundation for your skills. Let's get you back to the house and cleaned up before your dad accuses me of beating you up when he gets from from his mission," Kushina told her, pulling the girl into a shunshin that deposited them back at the house.

* * *

Since the war had begun, Mikoto's visits had become infrequent. She never stopped visiting, per say, she just went longer periods between seeing her best friend. Which was a travesty, honestly. She needed time with Kushina to decompress and work through the glamorous life that was being both a jonin and a mother.

She also wanted to bitch about her husband without him the possibility of him showing up, to be honest.

His most recent parenting choice left much to be desired. Mikoto understood that shinobi life was cruel and Itachi was, perhaps, slightly attached to his flights of fancy and dreams of a better future, but the cure for idealism was not shoving a child onto the battlefield! She's argued with Fugaku for weeks because of it, and then he'd up and taken Itachi there anyways while she was away on a mission.

Mikoto had been furious the moment she returned home and found her son a shell of the boy she remembered just a few days prior. She'd immediately packed a lunch and set out to Kushina's place, Itachi in tow. She honestly didn't care if she still smelled like the desert she'd been fighting in, Itachi came first.

"Well you look like you could use a strong drink," was the first thing that came out of Kushina's mouth when the redhead opened her front door.

"And a new husband," Mikoto replied, pulling Itachi inside and flopping down on the front couch.

A smirk pulled at Kushina's lips and she turned to the miniature Uchiha.

"Itachi-kun, go ahead and go to Takara's room. She hasn't seen you in a while, I'm sure she'll be happy to talk," Kushina told him, ushering the boy down the hall.

As soon as Itachi was out of sight, Mikoto leaned forward and began running her temples.

"I'm going to murder that man and no one will be able to tell it was me."

"Just let me know when you need an alibi," Kushina cheekily responded, pulling out a rather strong bottle of sake she had stored out of sight from Takara.

There was a moment of silence in the conversation, the sound of sake being poured filling the gap.

"Fugaku thought it would be a good idea to bring Itachi to the warzone."

The bottle of sake would've dropped if Kushina was any less of a kunoichi. Instead, she schooled her features behind a pleasantly blank face.

"Come again?"

The weariness and frustration Mikoto had been inundated with began to catch up with her, and it seeped into her voice.

"While I was gone, Fugaku thought it would be smart to shock the idealism out of Itachi. He's four years old, goddamn it! He doesn't belong on the battlefield, not yet."

Kushina handed her a saucer, and they both downed the liquid in one sip.

"Well, I can almost commiserate. I'm fairly certain my six-year-old daughter is a genius and will be thrown into battle soon as well," Kushina told the Uchiha matriarch.

"When did you figure that out?" Mikoto queried, grabbing the bottle so she could pour another drink.

"The signs have been there for a while. I just think we wanted to be oblivious. Given whose daughter she is, she's going to have a large target on her back. We've started training her just to keep her alive."

Mikoto hummed in agreement.

"Our children don't deserve this, Kushina. They just don't."

* * *

Takara perked up when she felt two semi-familiar signatures approach the house. They hadn't expected a visit from the Uchiha clan head's wife today, so Takara was willing to bet it was not necessarily a social call.

Her guess was proved right when what was essentially a catatonic Itachi walked into her room.

Even if she hadn't particularly cared for the man in her first life, she's begun to grow attached to his curious, childlike self in this time. To see him look so shattered and broken, like the world had fallen into pieces in front of him, disturbed Takara at her core. She had known he was a pacifist buried deep inside his layers of monster and murderer, Sasuke had explained as much, and Takara was willing to bet this moment was a seedling that led there.

"Are you alright?" she asked simply, getting up from the desk she'd been sitting at. Her sealing arrays she'd been working on were safely stored in a storage seal on the underside of the wood, and in their place was a hastily scratched drawing of a tree and a bird.

"Otou-sama took me to one of the battlefields yesterday. I- I knew what fighting and shinobi life meant, but it was just...different, seeing it in person," the child replied, frozen like a statue in her doorway.

Takara grasped Itachi's hand and brought him to sit on her rug, the same one concealing her privacy seal. She brushed a finger along the edge of the seal, knowing it by heart enough to activate it properly without looking.

"Start from the beginning," Takara prompted.

Sometimes when faced with trauma, all someone could do to help was listen. She'd spent many nights sitting and listening to people talk towards the end. The act of saying things out loud was cathartic for many, and every single person had experienced some form of trauma throughout the fourth war.

Itachi illustrated (in terms that she hadn't expected a four-year-old to know, but then again she wasn't really one to talk) how his father had taken him on a trip to one of the border skirmishes. There had been dead as far as his eye could see, and he'd gone to assist one struggling ninja, only for the man to turn on him.

He'd had to make his first kill in self-defense.

"I bet the first kill is your worst," Takara responded after a moment of silence signalled the end of his tale. "Sometimes I can see the haunted look in my parents' eyes though, so I wonder if it ever gets better."

Itachi remained silent, eyes vacantly staring at the floor. Takara reached out a hand to comfort him, brushing his shoulder lightly.

_Anger. Frustration. Despair. Hopelessness. Isthisallthereis? There'snohope. Howwillthingseverchange?_

She retracted her hand like she'd been burned.

What the hell was that? There was so much emotion. Was that...Itachi?

Takara shook her head to straighten things out. Seeing as Itachi was still basically unresponsive, she dipped into the sensory plane for a moment.

Itachi's signature swirled beside her, and she focused her senses in on the boy beside her. The same volley of emotions burst into her mental space as soon as she made contact.

_No wonder he's so messed up. That's a huge pool of emotion all mixed up together, and I'm willing to bet he has no idea how to handle it. Fuck, where's Ino when I need her?_

Reality blossomed before her as she returned to the real world. Ino's expertise in the mind and how it operated during traumatic experiences would've been great here, but unfortunately she'd been one of the first to go. Takara had never gotten the chance to learn from the Yamanaka, and she bitterly regretted it at the current time.

"You don't have to feel sorry for killing him, Itachi. He was trying to kill you. If you hadn't done that, you might not be here. Your mother would be devastated."

"Aa."

Takara was fairly certain that meant something along the lines of  _she would_ , but her Uchiha-ese was a bit rusty at the moment. Still, single syllable words were better than no response at all.

Another moment of silence passed by.

"I may not know what it's like to kill someone yet, but you can still lean on me for help, Itachi. War is not kind to anyone, and you'll need people to support you."

The two children who were on a path to violence already sat without conversation for some time. Takara stealthily observed what she could from both Itachi's minimal expression and the emotions in his chakra.

"I will...try to keep that in mind," Itachi replied eventually, turning to face Takara. "Thank you."

"I wish I could do more," Takara responded.

Itachi shifted into a standing position.

"You've done more than you know."

* * *

Today was one of the few moments that Minato's whole team, himself, Kushina, and Takara were all available. That hadn't happened in such a long time, especially since the genin's promotions, and Kushina decided that they needed to make it a nice, relaxing moment, away from the horrors of war.

Takara wasn't going to complain. She knew that the mission she dreaded had to be coming up soon, and she'd had very few opportunities to weasel her way into Obito's life recently. She helped her mother pack several lunch dishes into the picnic basket, and the pair started making their way out to the forest where they were going to meet up with the team after a training session.

"Tou-chan!" Takara cried, darting over to his side as soon as she saw him through the trees.

"Hello there, Takara," Minato replied, a warm smile slipping over his face. "Wrap it up guys, looks like lunch is here!"

The three youngsters stopped the spar they'd been in and made their way over to the small family.

"I am so hungry, I could eat a cow, I swear!" Obito crowed, his eyes lighting up in delight once he noticed Kushina's home cooking.

"Thank you for bringing us lunch, Kushina-san," Rin told her, sitting quietly next to her boisterous teammate.

"It's no problem at all, really. I wanted to get out of the house with Takara-chan," Kushina told her, pulling out dishes to place on the blanket she'd spread out.

"Do you have any cool new jutsu Obito-san?" Takara asked, turning her attention to the Uchiha.

"Eh, I mean not really anything new per say. But I have been working on making my fireball bigger! Maybe I'll show you later, huh?"

"Sounds cool!" Takara said, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Food first Takara-chan, then lighting things on fire," Minato said, concealing a quirk of the lips that Takara guessed was a smile. She didn't blame him, Kushina was adamant on her not learning katon jutsu just yet in case she burned down the house. Minato, on the other hand, didn't mind, likely because he knew there would be no burning down of the house anyways. Takara had better control than that.

The group dug in to the delicious food, and Takara took the moment to simply relish in the feeling of family and loved ones.

_I've had enough war in my life. This one needs to end, and quickly. Preferably without major deaths as well._

Soon enough, the food was finished and Team Minato had lazed around long enough for digestion to properly settle their food.

"Alright, back to spars you three. Takara, Kushina, you can stay if you want, but watch out for Kakashi and Obito. They tend to get a bit- explosive, shall we say," Minato told them.

"Oh please Minato-kun, that hasn't stopped me before," Kushina teased as she packed what was left of their meal. "Would you like to stay for a bit Takara-chan?"

Takara nodded, and deposited herself below a rather large oak that gave her adequate shade. The two boys of the team took up their positions, and blurred into motion on her father's signal. They clashed first with weapons and taijutsu, neither wanting to open the field to ninjutsu just yet.

"Can you teach me more taijutsu Kaa-chan?" Takara asked as the woman moved to sit down next to her.

"I could honey, but your body isn't very developed just yet. You'll need more muscle conditioning and stamina training before you're very effective. I'd also have to figure out which style fits you best. The standard Konoha style that's taught in the Academy is fairly easy, but also somewhat predictable because so many people have learned or experienced it. The Uzumaki have their own taijutsu style, but it might not work as it's based on being able to take hits and redirect your opponent's motion against them, which also won't work for you just yet."

Takara hummed, mulling over options in her head.

"I'll figure something out Kaa-chan."

Both women turned their attention back to the match as they heard Obito call out a jutsu.

"Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

A swath of flames danced through the clearing, and Takara's senses went haywire. A torrent of flames darted towards them, and Kushina instinctively pulled Takara away with a shunshin.

"Hey! Obito-chan, watch it! Takara's still here, you know!" Kushina bellowed across the training field.

"Sorry!" He called over as he continued to dodge the assaults Kakashi made.

"I'm fine, Kaa-chan," Takara said after Kushina wouldn't stop searching her for any injuries.

_That was interesting though. Now that both Kakashi-sensei and Obito are using large amounts of chakra, I can sense it much more. Is my ability bleeding into the real world now?_

Takara dropped into a meditative stance, slipping into the sensory plane to see if what she was feeling in the physical world matched. As soon as she opened herself up to the plane, both of the boys' signatures erupted around her once more. Obito was a singular fire-type with no sub-type, while Kakashi was definitely lightning with the static electricity that was bombarding her senses. Being so close to two signatures locked in combat was beginning to give her a headache, so she dropped back into the physical world.

"-ello. Takara-chan, you there?" Kushina was saying, waving one hand in front of Takara's face.

"Ah, sorry Kaa-chan. I wanted to know what Kakashi-san and Obito felt like," Takara replied. She pressed a hand to her head, trying to soothe the headache that momentary exposure to two powerful signatures had given her. Now that she was back to reality, it wasn't as bad. The signatures were still there, just muffled, as if she was separated from them by a buffer.

"What they felt like? What do you mean honey?" Kushina prompted, curious.

"I dunno, it's just how they feel. Can't you feel it too if you focus? Obito is really bright and feels like a sun. Kakashi-san feels like he's going to shock me," Takara replied, playing dumb. She hadn't come across any books or scrolls on sensory types just yet, so she couldn't play it off that she'd learned it. This way, perhaps she could get her parents to tell her more about the Namikaze clan sensory skills.

"Actually I can't. But I bet your father can. Let me get him real quick," Kushina told her.

Her mother stood and ambled over to Minato, speaking to him for a moment. He nodded and spoke back, before returning to Takara and leaving Kushina to supervise the spar.

"So your mother tells me that you can 'feel' what Kakashi and Obito are like. Is that true sweetheart?" Minato asked, sliding into a sitting position next to Takara.

The girl nodded.

"Obito is super hot, he feels like he's made of fire. Kakashi-san is all tingly and static-y," Takara replied as she refocused on the spar for a moment.

"Interesting. Well honey, I think you might be developing the same skills that Kaiyo and I have. Did you know that it's a trait of my family to have sensory skills?"

"I figured. I heard you and Kaiyo-baa talking about it sometime. But I wasn't really sure what you meant."

"Is this the first time you've been able to do this?"

"No, when I was trying to figure out my chakra for the first time I accidentally went to this really dark place instead. I could only see little blobs of glowy stuff, and when I tried to touch them, they felt like different things. Mom feels like a sea breeze. You feel static-y like Kakashi-san, but you also sound like it's really windy and sometimes I can feel something warm if I really look close," Takara told him.

Minato sat back and took in the information for a moment.

"Next time I have some free time honey, we're going to work on your sensor skills. They'll be very important in keeping you safe," Minato replied, pulling Takara into a hug.

_I'm all ears. Tell me all you know about our clan's skills, Tou-chan._

* * *

"A new report has arrived, sir."

A scroll was placed lightly on his desk.

"Very well, you may go," Danzo told the child. Said soldier bowed lightly and left, silent as he had come in.

The marks indicated it was one of his higher level operatives. He had suspicions as to whom. A small drop of blood was all it took to deactivate the seal keeping the scroll locked.

_The secondary subject has begun to show more promise. She spoke today of being able to 'feel' how her father's team was while they were in training combat mode. I have suspected this recently, but needed more proof before bringing my findings to your attention. It is unknown if she will fully develop the bloodline as has been known in the clan, only observation will be able to tell. Both her father and the primary subject are now aware of her skills as well, and may begin attempting to train her. I suggest missions stationed out of the village for them, as far as possible. She is left in more agreeable care when they are gone for long stretches. I may be able to start counterconditioning._

_-NK_

Danzo closed the scroll with hardly a snap. It would certainly prove beneficial if the child could be brought directly to Root. But...if the Namikaze could get her niece to trust her, to believe in her ways… Well, listening to someone who cares for and loves you is always a better form of brainwashing. At least until he can strip her of emotion entirely and make her the perfect agent.

_Namikaze Takara… you will certainly do well in my program..._

**砂時計**

**Recommended Read:**  
Kunoichi's Burden: Village First by lilac haze  
_Minato/Sakura_  
She was dying. She should have died. She was supposed to die but the Gods had other plans. Sakura is thrown back in the past, where a dangerously attractive blonde and a loud mouthed redhead have taken it upon themselves to make her life even more difficult. If Naruto's parents didn't get together, kami, she would be in a lot of trouble. In-progress.


End file.
